Influence of number of studs on compliance of a flight intersection joint

Abstract

Flight intersection joints are temporary joints used to integrate one airframe section with another. They are characterized by their capacity to resist the rotational flexibility when subjected to an external bending moment, commonly termed as the joint rotational compliance (JRC). Currently, JRC is quantified mostly by extensive experiments on the flight intersection joints. The influence of number of studs in a stud-pocket type intersection joint on JRC is not yet well understood in literature which is addressed in this paper through numerical simulations. The variation in joint compliance and its dependence on number of studs are brought out through the analysis of circumferential distribution of joint displacement, JRC and joint rotational stiffness.