Experimental study on failure mechanism of hybrid composite joints with different adhesives

The use of the hybrid joint has increased in recent years because of its superior mechanical characteristics. In this study, quasistatic experiments were performed to elucidate the failure mechanism of hybrid composite joints upon consideration of the properties of the adhesive, clamping force, and joint width. The results showed that the stiffness of the adhesive is the most important design parameter. In this study, two adhesives with different stiffness values were used. In the case of the joints using the adhesive with the lower stiffness modulus, it was observed that the load was transferred readily through the adhesive since it was shared between the bolt and adhesive more efficiently. This phenomenon allowed the hybrid joints that use the low-modulus adhesive to sustain greater loads before failure, as compared to the joints that use the stiffer adhesive.