Numerical and experimental vibration analysis of different types of adhesively bonded joints

Abstract

Recently, in most structures, such as aircraft, spacecraft, transport vehicles and mechanical systems etc., adhesive-bonded composite structures have been frequently preferred because of their lightweight and durability. The construction of these structures, such as the truss system of a space station, is mainly carried out using composite plates, beams and adhesively bonded joints. Many different joints, such as lap joint, double-strap joint etc., used in these structures aforementioned. The designs, which consist of adhesively bonded joints, should have adequate inherent damping capability to suppress vibration and acoustics response caused by external excitations. The focus of the analysis is to reveal the effective bonding type in terms of the design and energy absorption capacity of the structures connected with different types of adhesive bonds. The effects of geometrical parameters such as the thickness of the adhesive, overlap length, number of layers, fibre orientation and the adherent thickness on natural frequency and damping were investigated employing both the finite element method and the experimental analysis. The frequencies and damping ratios of the adhesive bonding structures predicted using the finite element method were compared with those measured experimentally. The coordination of the numerical and experimental techniques has provided an ability to scrutinise the dynamic response of bonded structures with different adhesive bonding joint. The findings revealed by this work will be effective to conduct the design and optimisation of adhesively bonded different joints only when material properties and basic dimensions are regarded.