Fatigue life analysis of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) components in hybrid adhesive joints

Abstract

AbstractHybrid adhesive joints of metal and composite parts are increasingly common features of lightweight structures. Efficient design of these joints requires computational methods for estimating the fatigue life of the adhesive as well as of the parts being joined – i. e. the adherends. The paper focuses on computational fatigue life prediction for carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) adherends in hybrid adhesive joints. After a brief description of the composite material considered, two modeling approaches for the fatigue life are presented. Subsequently, the experimental determination of the model parameters is discussed and the relevant values are presented. For validation, the models are applied to predict the fatigue lives of a multidirectional laminate as well as of the composite adherend in a hybrid single‐lap joint. Finally, the results for both models are compared and discussed with respect to the experimental results. Both models yield reasonable predictions for the cases considered here. For almost uniaxial stress states, the predictions of both models are very similar while for multiaxial stress states the difference is more pronounced.