Laminate of metal sheet material and threads bonded thereto, as well as processes for the manufacture thereof

A fiber-reinforced, pre-stressed laminate adapted for use as a structural component of an air craft, comprising:

• at least two sheets of an aluminum alloy, each of said sheets having a thickness in the range of 0.1 mm to less than 1 mm and a tensile strength of greater than 350 N/mm.sup.2 ;
• an adhesive layer located between each adjacent pair of said sheets, said adhesive layer comprising a thermohardening material disposed between the sheets to bond an adjacent pair of the sheets together;
• aromatic polyamide fibers disposed in each said adhesive layer to reinforce the laminate, said fibers comprising poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide yarns made up of endless filaments formed from a material having a modulus of elasticity in the range of 5.times.10.sup.4 to 25.times.10.sup.4 N/mm.sup.2 and an elongation at breakage of at least 2%, said yarns being disposed in substantially straight parallel lines in the adhesive layer and being present in an amount of 20 to 80% by weight based on the combined weight of the thermohardening material and the yarns,
• said laminate in an unloaded state having in its entirety a compressive stress of up to 300 N/mm.sup.2 in each of the sheets and a tensile stress in each said adhesive layer, the thickness of each of the sheets being greater than the thickness of each said adhesive layer containing said fibers.