Abstract
This study researches a novel advanced joining technique, utilizing metal additive manufacturing, named μPinning. μPins are small pin-like structures manufactured on a metal substrate and used to penetrate and be consolidated inside a fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) laminate as through-the-thickness reinforcement during curing (Ucsnik et al. in Composite to composite joint with lightweight metal reinforcement for enhanced damage tolerance. ECCM16—16th European Conference on Composite Materials, Seville, Spain, 2014, Parkes et al. in Compos Struct 118:250–256, 2014). Prior studies have shown a significant increase in the load bearing capabilities of the joint [1, 2], as well as greater performance in dynamic and fatigue loads (Graham et al. in Compos Part A 64:11–24, 2014, Chang et al. in Compos Sci Technol 66(13):2163–2176, 2006, Ko et al. in Compos Struct 119:59–66, 2015]. The main objective of this research is to use numerical optimization tool to optimize the shape of a μPin, as studies have shown that the shape of the μPin exhibits a significant role in the mechanical response [1, 2, 5, 7]. After the numerical optimization, experimental testing was performed to validate the assumption of the importance of the μPin shape in the joint loading response. Finally, this study aims to lead to future research on the design of metal inserts in sandwich structures and struts for use in space applications.
Highlights
This PhD research was focused on the development of a more reliable metal-to-composite and composite-to-composite connection, utilizing the micro-pinning technology
It makes it extremely difficult to fulfill Equation 7, and a compromise is made that the bending stiffness difference between the Ti and CFRP adherents shall not be greater than 5%
The shape optimization resulted in several designs that provided insight on the pin placement on the lap-joint interface
Summary
This PhD research was focused on the development of a more reliable metal-to-composite and composite-to-composite connection, utilizing the micro-pinning technology. A feasibility study to redesign and deviate from the current manufacturing procedures was implemented, which combined and utilized advanced numerical optimization tools, AM procedures and a complete redesign of the application scenario’s reference joint case to accommodate the micro-pinning concept from the start. A numerical optimization study was performed, followed by a manufacture and experimental testing of the designed specimens, and concluding with a numerical testing procedure to validate the correlation and ability to predict the mechanical response using numerical non-linear FEM tools. In the final results of this study, it was shown that performing a redesign of a component to adapt the micro-pinning technology would bear a significantly greater mechanical response compared to the reference case. Plus, using modern numerical optimization tools and advanced manufacturing procedures could help further gain a response of greater strength with a notable system mass reduction
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