An Investigation of the Tensile Strength of a Composite-To-Metal Adhesive Joint
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An Investigation of the Tensile Strength of a Composite-To-Metal Adhesive Joint Nicholas G. Tsouvalis & Vassilios A. Karatzas
Received: 15 November 2009 / Accepted: 17 March 2010 / Published online: 13 April 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
Abstract The present study examines the feasibility of a simple concept composite-tometal butt joint through the performance of both numerical and experimental studies. The composite part is made of glass/epoxy unidirectional layers made with the vacuum bag method. The geometry of the joint is typical for marine applications and corresponds to a low stiffness ratio. Two major parameters are investigated, namely the overlap length and the surface preparation of the steel adherent. Manufacturing of specimens and the procedure of the tensile tests are described in detail, giving hints for obtaining a better quality joint. Axial elongation and strains at various places of the joint were monitored and also numerically calculated. The tests revealed that the joint is quite effective, irrespectively of the steel surface preparation method. The failure loads are comparable and in some cases superior to other corresponding values found in the literature. The numerical models proved to adequately predict the structural response of the joint up to the loading where debonding starts. Keywords Adhesive joints . Debonding . Finite element analysis . Welding/Joining . Surface roughness
1 Introduction In the marine industry composite materials are used mainly for building small ships less than 100 m long, such as pleasure crafts, fishing vessels and special naval ships. In the last years, the use of composite materials is slowly expanding to larger ships, aiming at replacing various (secondary) parts of the ship’s steel or aluminium structure, thus reducing the lightship weight. Such a reduction is very important, especially for fast sea transportation of people and goods, since it causes great advances with respect to fuel consumption, deadweight capacity and stability. Some indicative large parts of the ship’s N. G. Tsouvalis (*) : V. A. Karatzas Shipbuilding Technology Laboratory, School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Heroon Polytechniou 9, GR-15780 Zografos, Athens, Greece e-mail: [email protected]
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Appl Compos Mater (2011) 18:149–163
structure that can be replaced by composite materials are superstructures, bulkheads, masts and decks that are close to the ship’s neutral axis and do not contribute to its longitudinal strength [1, 2]. For an effective integration of composite parts into the metallic structure of a ship, the design of proper composite-to-metal joints becomes imperative, taking into account the geometry, loading and usage of the particular parts to be connected. At the same time, such a joint should fulfil some basic principles and requirements, on the basis of which design and manufacturing of the joint will be made. The most important of these requirements is adequate mechanical behaviour of the
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