Abstract
In the present work, the effect of plasma treatment of aluminum on the fracture toughness of aluminum/CFRP composites was studied. The aluminum used was 7075-T6 and CFRP used was multi-directional graphite/epoxy composites whose stacking sequence was [0 o /±45 o /90 o ]3s
The surface of the aluminum was treated by a DC plasma. The plasma treatment was carried out at volume ratio of acetylene gas to nitrogen gas of 5:5 and the treatment times used was 30sec. Fracture toughness of aluminum/CFRP composites was determined from CLS (cracked lap shear) specimens. The fracture toughness of plasma-treated aluminum/CFRP composites was compared with that of untreated aluminum/CFRP composites. The results showed that fracture toughness of plasma-treated aluminum/CFRP composites was about 50% higher than that of untreated aluminum/CFRP composites.