| Glass fibre-reinforced polyester composite materials are being extensively used for general-purpose applications. For highly loaded structures, bolted joints are generally the preferred assembly method. However, bolted joints are usually the weakest link in a structure and they must therefore be designed with care. Specifically, the joint geometry, reinforcement type and lay-up should be chosen on a rational basis, otherwise the assembly may fail prematurely. The present study is concerned with the study of these material parameters. The mechanical response of bolted assemblies is studied for a range of six glass fibre-reinforced polyester laminates with reinforcements and lay-ups that are typical for general-purpose applications. In order to assess how changes in joint width or in joint end distance affect the behaviour of the joint, tests were carried out on three coupon geometries.; In accordance with the standard test method ASTM D5961, a single-bolt double lap bolted joint configuration was used for the experimental characterisation. We investigated how the displacement measurement could best be made because currently there is a whole range of approaches in use and it is clear that the measured displacement quantity directly affects the stiffness values. A 3-D finite element model indicated that bolt deformation and fixture deformations affected the measured coupon displacement.; The bearing stiffness was reduced by 26% on average when the width was reduced from six to two times the hole diameter. For the assemblies with a width of two times the hole diameter (w/D = 2) the bearing stiffness increased clearly with the tensile modulus of the tested materials. Both the experimental and numerical bearing stiffness values were much lower than those predicted by joint flexibility formulas. Hence, our results indicate that these joint flexibility formulas should be adapted if they are intended to be used for design of general-purpose glass fibre-reinforced polyester structures with bolt-hole clearance.; The different material/geometry combinations led to very diverse failure modes and strengths, ranging from catastrophic low strength failures to progressive high strength failures. All the small coupons (w/D = 2; e/D = 3) failed catastrophically by tension. We observed that important characteristics of the bearing response such as damage stress, ultimate strength, failure mode and post-failure behaviour were related to reinforcement types and their stacking sequence. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
