Strength Envelope of Bolted Composite Joints under Bypass Loads

Abstract

An investigation was performed to study the strength and failure of bolted composite joints subjected to bypass loads. The damage accumulation models developed previously by the authors were implemented in a nonlinear finite element code, designated "BJSTAT," for predicting failure and response of bolted composite joints. Utilizing the code, numerical simulations were conducted to generate the strength envelope for a bolted composite joint under multi-axial bypass loads. The predictions of bolted joints subjected to an axial bypass load were compared with available experimental data. The prediction agreed with the data very well. The envelope can provide information on the strength as well as the failure type of the joint as functions of the bypass loads and, therefore, is very useful in joint design.