Comparison of fatigue damage criteria for a CFRP aeronautical joint subjected to random fatigue load

Abstract

The fatigue life prediction of components in CFRP subjected to random fatigue load was carried out considering different fatigue damage models. The selected component is a filled hole tension specimen, which is representative of the typical aeronautical riveted joint. The stress state of the riveted section was determined through a FEM model, created with CODE ASTER. Subsequently, the fatigue load history was introduced, calculating the stress field for the different load levels. Applying the constant life diagrams, fatigue cycles were counted and the damage was evaluated. Finally, the damage that occurs in the different ply of the specimen was calculated using different fatigue damage criteria present in literature. The creation of a parametric FEM model offers the possibility of optimizing the study and constitutes a useful tool in order to choose the most suitable damage criteria for the particular geometry and loading mode of the component. Moreover, different severity of the load history and different load sequence were introduced to show their effect in the fatigue failure.