A critical assessment of design tools for stress analysis of adhesively bonded double lap joints

Abstract

Despite the proliferation of high fidelity finite-element (FE) models, lower fidelity models remain commonly used in adhesively bonded joint design. These design models can save both computational and user time due to their simplicity and ease of use. This study presents a detailed assessment of local stress fields predicted by five design models: A4EI, HyperSizer, Joint Element Designer, Carrera Unified Formulation, and a Continuum Solid Shell FE model. All models were compared with a high fidelity, dense mesh FE model. Six double lap joint cases with different combinations of features like different adhereds, a core, and tapers were compared.

Keywords:

• Adhesively bonded joints
• design
• modeling
• finite element analysis
• composite materials
• sandwich
• honeycomb core

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support from the Space Technology Mission Directorate Composite Technologies (NASA) for Exploration Project and the Aeronautics Research Directorate Transformational Tools and Technologies Project. The Politecnico di Torino authors acknowledge funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 642121 under framework of project FULLCOMP (FULLy analysis, design, manufacturing, and health monitoring of COMPosite structures). The authors have no conflict of interest regarding this research.