Free Vibration Parametric Study of a Double Lap Joint Using the Radial Point Interpolation Method

Abstract

Adhesive joints are an increasingly important joining method, in part due to usually being lighter than the alternatives, which is very important in the search for more energy efficient transportation. However, the amount of studies focused on the free-vibration behavior of adhesive joints is currently very limited. Since this knowledge is important, to ensure that a joint is working outside its natural frequencies, this work sets out to perform a parametric study of a Double Lap Joint (DLJ) using the Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM), a meshless method. Using the RPIM in the free vibration of adhesive joints is the next step for this numerical method, after using it in the static analysis of adhesive joints. Considering that this is one of the first uses of this method in this type of problem it is also necessary to validate it. This task was performed in this work by comparing it with the Finite Element Method (FEM), which is the standard numerical method for this type of problem. The validation was successful, showing very small differences between the two numerical methods. The parametric study should aid future adhesive joint designers to develop safer joint. It showed that changes to the adhesive produce diminutive changes to the natural frequencies of the joints. On the other hand, changes to the adherents change the natural frequencies significantly. The overlap length had different effects on the different modes.