Load-carrying capacity of hot-pressed thermoplastic composite joints

Abstract

Abstract Composite joints have been commonly used in many industries such as aviation, aerospace, and automotive due to their advantages of being light and durable. Internal stresses may occur especially during the service life of these materials and decrease the load-carrying capacity of the joints. In this study, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composite panels are used resorting to different combinations by using hot-pressing method as a single lap joint, and their mechanical properties are investigated under different temperatures, experimentally. Tensile tests were carried out at different temperatures in order to examine the temperature effect on load-carrying capacity of joints. Different bonding types of composites were compared to obtain the optimal joint configurations. The effect of low velocity impact on the failure response of the joints at impact energy levels of 5 and 10 J is also evaluated. From the tensile tests after impact treatment, it was concluded that transverse impact significantly decreased the load-carrying capacity of the single lap thermoplastic joints. Based upon the experimental results, it was concluded that HDPE–HDPE joints demonstrated higher tensile failure loads at 50 °C after transverse impact. Moreover, the tensile strength of all types of configurations decreased with increasing temperature.