Experimental and numerical failure analysis of bolted joints in CFRP woven laminates

The purpose of a joint is to transfer load between the two parts being joined. As a result of this load transfer there will be a stress variation in the components in the joint region, as well as stresses in the joining medium (fasteners or adhesive). In this work, the stress results of a two-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis are used to understand failure modes of a bolted joint in low-temperature cure carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) woven laminates loaded in tension, and to predict the bearing strength. Good agreement with experimentally observed damage modes and strengths is achieved with, in some cases, a difference of less than 10%.