Abstract
A novel concept for the structural joining of composite and metallic components is presented. The concept employs interlocking morphology formed on the surfaces of composite, female and metallic, male adherends that are coupled with a layer of adhesive so that they mechanically interlock in shear. In the present work, miniature, single-lap adhesive joint specimens are considered, with a single truncated square pyramid interlocking profile, centred in the bond area. Finite element (FE) models of the interlocking joint architecture are developed in order to assess the mechanical performance of the concept. The modelling approach incorporates an intralaminar continuum damage model to account for damage in the composite material, a cohesive zone damage model to represent damage and fracture propagating through the adhesive, and elastic-plastic behaviour to simulate the mechanical response of the metal. The model is validated against experimental results, showing good correlation in terms of stiffness, strength and damage predictions. The concept demonstrates improvements of up to 18.3% in terms of the joints ultimate failure load when compared to a standard adhesively bonded joint. Importantly, significant improvements in the work required to break the joint have also been demonstrated, with up to 41% shown in simulations. The improvement in work to failure is achieved through the more progressive way that the interlocking joint fails when compared to a standard adhesive joint. This is achieved as a result of the mechanical interlock, which prevents sudden catastrophic failure caused by the adhesive but instead leads shear-out and net-tension failure modes, which are typical of bolted joints.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Event | 21st International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2017 - Xi'an, China Duration: 20 Aug 2017 → 25 Aug 2017 |
Conference
Conference | 21st International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2017 |
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Country/Territory | China |
City | Xi'an |
Period | 20/08/17 → 25/08/17 |
Keywords
- Cohesive zone model
- Continuum damage model
- Finite elements
- Hybrid structures
- Joints