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Originally Posted by Rick TYler
Composite materials take many forms, and are used for (you guessed it) a lot of different purposes. My wife works on the F22 fighter. Most of the wing spars are RTM carbon fiber parts (don't worry -- this isn't classified), but every few spars one is replaced with titanium. Titanium is heavier and less stiff, but it resists certain kinds of battle damage better. The wing is a titanium/carbon fiber/resin composite structure. We asked about getting some QC rejected carbon fiber spars for our robot, but it turns out they belong to the Air Force, too.
Your specific suggestion for an aluminum/fiberglass sandwich makes me wonder what you are trying to do? If you want a superstrong, lightweight, very stiff structure, you would be better off making a laminate of 45/45 biaxial fiberglass epoxied to both sides of structural foam like Divinycell. The aluminum won't buy you much, and will bond poorly to the fiberglass. IMHO, using mechanical fasteners to create your composite panel is suboptimal. Most boats and a lot of airplanes are held together by glue, not screws.
Let us know what you want your structure to accomplish and maybe we can give you better suggestions. (I wanted to make an epoxy/carbon fiber/fiberglass arm for our 'bot, but I was outvoted by conservative teenagers. Oh well...)
Rick Tyler
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thats a lot of materials I've never heard of. is there somewhere i can go to find out more about them? by the by, this is for the claw on the end of a long arm, so I'm trying for light, stiff, and well i guess everything you listed there.
thnx