An Experimental Study of the Static Torque Capacity of the Adhesively-Bonded Tubular Single Lap Joint

Abstract

With the wide application of fiber-reinforced composite materials in aircraft, space structures and robot arms, the design and manufacture of composite joints have become a very important research area because they are often the weakest areas in composite structures. In this study, the effects of the adhesive thickness and tensile thermal residual stress on the torque capacity of tubular single lap joints were studied. The torque capacities of the adhesive joints were experimentally determined and found to be inversely proportional to the adhesive thickness. In order to match the experimental results to the theoretical analyses, the elastic-perfectly plastic material properties of the adhesive were used in the closed form solution. Also, the tensile thermal residual stresses of the joints were calculated by the finite element method and it was found that the thermal residual stresses could play an important role in the torque capacity when the adhesive thickness was large.