Abstract
This research deals with the fatigue behavior of 200 small single lap multiple-riveted joint specimens, widely used for aeronautic structures. The tests were performed with three different levels of stress with stress ratio R = 0.05; three levels were set: 90 MPa, 120 MPa and 160 MPa. The fatigue life and critical crack size for all tested specimens were analyzed. According to the results’ analysis, two types of fracture, through-hole and in proximity of the hole, were observed, depending on the level of stress: the higher the applied stress, the more through-hole cracking. Indeed, under the fatigue load with a stress level of 90 MPa, less than 30% of specimens showed cracks propagating through the hole, while, at the stress level of 120 MPa, the percentage reaches 36.3%. At the stress level of 160 MPa, 100% of specimens failed through the hole. Moreover, aimed to use experimental data for probabilistic methods, a statistical analysis was performed according to the Anderson–Darling test. This method allowed the analysis of the datasets, in terms of both fatigue life and critical crack size, providing information about the best distribution function able to fit experimental results.
Highlights
Nowadays, several jointing techniques can be used to assemble structural components
Research activities are mainly addressed to investigate the structural behavior of riveted joints under quasi-static [2], such as tensile, compressive, shear and bending loads and dynamic [3,4], such as fatigue, impact, vibration, etc., loading conditions
The high stress and strain gradients are complex to be considered in analytical solutions, but they can be considered in Finite Element (FE) models, even if high computational costs are needed, especially under specific loading conditions [8]
Summary
Several jointing techniques can be used to assemble structural components. they can be classified into two main groups: fixed, such as welded, brazed, soldered, bonded, bonded-bolted and riveted joints and removable ones, such as bolted joints [1].Belonging to the former, riveting is the most widely used technique for the assembly of laminar structures in the aeronautical field, where the lightness of the structures and multiple spot connections are required. Research activities are mainly addressed to investigate the structural behavior of riveted joints under quasi-static [2], such as tensile, compressive, shear and bending loads and dynamic [3,4], such as fatigue, impact, vibration, etc., loading conditions. Concerning the former studies, with respect to fatigue life prediction, more reliable prediction models, usually based on the Finite Element (FE) method, were proposed to achieve information about riveted joint strength, their load-bearing capability and failure mechanisms [5,6,7]. From a fatigue point of view, more uncertainties affect the investigations, because of the higher number of variables to
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