Detectability of Bearing Failure of Composite Bolted Joints by Electric Resistance Change Method

Abstract

Bolted joints are widely used for composite structures. As is well known, excessive bearing load gives rise to bearing failure at hole boundaries. Detecting bearing failure is important for assuring integrity of composite structures. Since conventional nondestructive inspection methods are expensive, cumbersome, time-consuming, and not suitable for health monitoring, a simple, low-cost inspection method for bearing failure must be developed. Authors have demonstrated the feasibility of detecting bearing failure by using an electric resistance change method. In this study, more detailed analyses were carried out to investigate the detectability in terms of the damage size and the distance between damage and electrodes. The results show that bearing failure of less than 10mm square causes the electric resistance change of a few hundred ppm and thus can be easily detected, and that the electrodes can be mounted more than 10 mm far from a bolt hole.