Numerical and Experimental Investigation on Single Lap Composite Joints

This work focuses on the study of reliable numerical models for the prediction of the mechanical behaviour of composite joints. When composite materials are adopted, proper joint designs need to be considered to obtain durable and safe assemblies. This study is aimed to better understand the damage initiation and propagation issues in composite joints for an efficient design with reduced over-dimensioning. Several joint configurations are available and are dependent on the thickness of the components to be connected. In this study, the Single Lap Joint configuration has been examined, whose design provides the most cost-effective joint in terms of weight. Actually, single lap bonded, bolted and hybrid configurations have been analyzed to identify the best reliable solution to join composite parts. The numerical models have been validated by means of comparisons with experimental tests. The experimental/numerical comparisons shown that the proposed numerical procedure can be, effectively, adopted to predict the mechanical behaviour of composite joints.