Strengthening the bonding interfaces of hybrid titanium carbon laminates by bionic micro texture and carbon nanotube pinning

A reliable strategy to enhance the bonding ability in hybrid titanium carbon laminates (HTCLs) is proposed, which is based on the pinning effect produced by bionic micro texture etched by laser on titanium and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) introduced into adhesive layer. The characteristic of bionic micro texture is determined, and the strengthening mechanism of bonding interfaces is revealed. The HTCLs samples with various micro texture groove widths, laser scanning times and MWCNTs content are fabricated via an autoclave process. The micro texture morphologies, surface wettability, interlayer bonding properties under different conditions are studied. Results show that the recast layers formed on titanium during etching are beneficial to improve the interfacial bonding properties. Compared with no micro texture, the contact angle with micro texture can be reduced by 68.4%. Both micro texture and MWCNTs can reduce the defects at the interlayer interfaces and improve the interfacial adhesion. In this work, the maximum tensile shear strength (TSS) and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) can be obtained with the micro texture groove width of 30 mu m, the laser scanning of 30 times and the MWCNTs content of 0.4 wt%, which are 56.39% and 32.84% higher than that without any treatment, respectively.

Automated summary

A reliable strategy is proposed to enhance the bonding ability in hybrid titanium carbon laminates (HTCLs), based on the pinning effect produced by bionic micro texture etched by laser on titanium and the introduction of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into the adhesive layer. The micro texture groove width, laser scanning times, and MWCNTs content are varied in the samples, and their morphologies, wettability, and bonding properties are studied. Results show that both the micro texture and MWCNTs can improve interfacial bonding properties, with the optimal TSS and ILSS achieved at a groove width of 30 μm, 30 laser scanning times, and 0.4 wt% MWCNTs content.