Material Design of Al/CFRP Hybrid Composites for the Hull of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) can save human life from severe environments and reduce the operating cost of underwater equipment. Generally, the hulls of AUVs are made of composite materials or metal alloys, such as aluminum alloy and titanium alloy. Composite materials have the following attractive properties: light weight, corrosion resistance and freedom of shape design. However, composite materials do not undergo plastic deformation well, which can be a disadvantage if these materials are used for underwater equipment. For this reason, this study focused on the reliability of composite material. This paper reports the material design, experiment for materials and verification by FEA. Two types of Al-CFRP hybrid composites were used: co-cured and post-bonded material. Tensile and interlaminar tests were performed to define the material properties. Mechanical tests of designed materials were carried out and the results were used for FEA. This study confirmed the feasibility of Al-CFRP hybrid composites for AUVs.