GLARE

Glass fiber reinforced aluminum ( also GLARE ) is a hybrid material consisting of many, only a few tenths of a millimeter thick layers. These layers consist of alternating aluminum and a fiberglass laminate (fiberglass reinforced plastic). The layers are bonded under pressure.

The word Glare is an acronym and stands for glass- fiber reinforced aluminum. The material was developed in collaboration with Delft University of Technology and the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR ) in the Netherlands. It was specially developed for the aircraft and for the first time used extensively in the passenger version of the Airbus A380, exist in large parts of the upper skin from glare. The freighter version of the A380, an improved version of the glare is already used: the so-called HSS -glare. Where HSS stands for High Static Strength. In the production of the passenger version of the standard Glare is now replaced stepwise with HSS -glare.

The advantage over aluminum - so far the standard material in aircraft construction - is in the better through fire and impact behavior. Another advantage over aluminum is its behavior to cracking. Cracks are " bridged " by the glass fiber layers, so that the crack velocity with increasing crack length decreases, while the aluminum, the crack velocity increases greatly. Therefore, it is used above all for his behavior to cracks in the upper torso area and on the lower wing surface, and in the projection area of the vertical tail and the cockpit area due to the turning characteristics. In addition, glare components can be specifically adapted by a function-optimized fiber orientation for certain loading conditions. The density of glare is located at approximately that of the usual in aircraft aluminum, but may vary slightly depending on the layer thickness.

The disadvantage is the reduced elastic modulus. He is with the glare at about 57,000 N / mm ² ( modulus of elasticity of duralumin: 73,000 N / mm ²). Due to the lower stiffness flutter or overshoot can occur. A further disadvantage is the price of glare, which is about six times higher than the price of aluminum. In addition, aluminum can be processed easier because special care must be taken during installation of glare that the individual layers are not detached from one another ( delamination ) or press the drilling swarf between the fiber and aluminum layers.