Influence of Bolting Parameters on the Ultimate Tensile Strength and Stiffness of Composite-Metal Joints^#

Abstract

The joining of dissimilar materials poses a challenge in mechanical structures. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of joining parameters such as bolt spacing, geometry configuration, and overlap length on ultimate failure strength and stiffness of composite-metal hybrid joints. Woven fiberglass/epoxy and unidirectional carbon-fiber/epoxy composites have been manufactured and tested under tensile loads to obtain their mechanical properties. Composite test coupons were joined to metal coupons of higher Young's modulus, varying the aforementioned parameters in each joint and tested to failure. It was found that the variation of the joining parameters affected unidirectional carbon-fiber/epoxy-steel joints more noticeably than the woven fiberglass-aluminum joints.