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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
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4 Aerospace Science and Technology 70
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7 www.elsevier.com/locate/aescte 73
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Numerical model for investigation of the strain distribution in thick 78
13 composite plates subjected to bolt loads 79
14 80
15
Alireza Gorjipoor , Suong Van Hoa, Rajamohan Ganesan 81
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17 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia Center for Composites, Concordia University, Montreal, H3G1M8, Canada 83
18 84
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20 a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t 86
21 87
22 Article history: In this study, strain distributions in a thick composite plate subjected to bolt loads have been investigated 88
Received 7 July 2016 both numerically and experimentally. Recently, major industries such as aerospace, automobile and
23 89
Received in revised form 6 September 2016 marine are interested in development of thick composite applications. One of these applications is the
24 Accepted 10 October 2016 90
yoke of the helicopter, which connects main blades to the rotor hub using bolt joints. In the present work,
25 Available online xxxx 91
a three dimensional nite element model of a thick composite plate subjected to bolt loads is created
26 92
Keywords: using ANSYS 14.5. Strains at the surface (around the washer) and along the laminate thickness have been
27 93
Thick composite laminate measured using strain gages and Digital Image Correlation method, in order to verify simulation results.
28 The model is used to investigate the effect of thickness on distributions of interlaminar stresses. 94
Finite element analysis (FEA)
29 Bolt loads 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 95
30 Digital Image Correlation 96
31 97
32 98
33 99
34 1. Introduction rier, Boeing/Bell V-22 Osprey, Boeing 777 and Grumman X-29 100
35 (NASA) [4]. 101
36 This study is motivated based on the application of thick com- 102
High specic strength and high specic stiffness of composite
37 posite laminates as the yoke of helicopter. Yoke is the part which 103
materials make them an appropriate choice for many industrial ap-
38 connects main rotor blades to the hub. It is made of thick tapered 104
plications. Designers and manufacturers are able to replace parts
39 composite laminate which is connected to the other parts of the 105
made of common materials like steel and aluminum with compos-
40 system using bolt joints. Bolts are considered as the most vulner- 106
ite materials. The specic benet of composite materials is their
41 able parts of the assembly. The failure of the yoke may cause the 107
ability to be designed in a way to achieve specic material proper- helicopter to stall. This paper focuses on introducing an effective
42 108
43
ties in a desired direction. So far, thin composite plates have been model for the stress analysis of a thick composite plate subjected 109
44
widely used in different industries. Therefore, design and analy- to bolt loads. The proposed model is a part of a holistic model 110
45
sis methods for thin composites have been widely developed [1,2] which includes all major concepts in design process of the yoke 111
46 and several techniques have been invented by manufacturers to such as bending loads and centrifugal forces. The holistic model 112
47 produce more complicated parts [3]. will be utilized for failure prediction and fatigue analysis in de- 113
48 One of major applications of composite materials is in aerospace sign process to reduce the number of iterative costly experimental 114
49 structures where weight reduction has been always the most chal- tests. 115
50 lenging endeavor. Aerospace structures are always made up of sev- The signicant amount of transverse normal and shear stresses 116
51 eral components which should be assembled using methods. Joint along thickness make stress analysis in thick laminates more com- 117
52 design has its own signicance and complexity especially when plicated in comparison with thin laminates, where plane stress as- 118
53 composite materials are engaged in the structure. The most com- sumption is applicable in most study cases [57]. Two dimensional 119
54 mon method for composite parts assembly is mechanical fasteners. methods which have been developed so far are not suitable for 120
55 Bolt joint, which is considered as a type of mechanical fasteners, prediction of structural behavior in thicker laminates, hence more 121
56 is more popular and practical since it is inspectable, repairable advanced experimental and analytical methods have been utilized 122
57 and undoable. Some of the applications of bolt joints in aerospace in the literature for stress analysis of thick composite plates [8]. 123
58 industry are such as wing to fuselage joint in Boeing/MDD Har- In analytical approach nite element simulation was performed 124
59 by using either brick elements provided by commercial software 125
60 or the new elements introduced and developed by researchers [5, 126
61 6,812]. For experimental investigation Digital Image Correlation 127
* Corresponding author.
62 E-mail addresses: a_gorjip@encs.concordia.ca (A. Gorjipoor), method and strain gages were utilized to verify nite element sim- 128
63 hoasuon@encs.concordia.ca (S. Van Hoa), ganesan@encs.concordia.ca (R. Ganesan). ulation results [8]. 129
64 130
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2016.10.008
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1270-9638/ 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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12 Fig. 1. Composite plate dimensions. 78
13 79
14 For thick composites bolt joint is the most frequent assem- 2. Finite element simulation 80
15 bly method [13]. Several researches have been performed in or- 81
16 der to study the effect of bolt joints in composite structures [14]. The dimensions of the modeled plate are illustrated in Fig. 1. 82
17 Some researchers used two dimensional analysis [15]. However, It is made of 80 layers of glass epoxy. Each layer has a thickness 83
18 it is shown by Ireman [16] that in the vicinity of the bolt hole, of 0.009 inch (0.23 mm), therefore total thickness of the plate is 84
19 the eld of stress is three dimensional and signicant interlaminar 0.72 inch (18.3 mm). All layers are made of unidirectional prepregs 85
20 provided by Cytec Engineered Materials company (product num- 86
stresses exist at the free edges. It was shown by Ireman that the
21 ber: FX E773/S-2). Four holes were drilled at each side of the 87
distribution of bolthole contact pressure is not uniform along the
22 plate using diamond twist drills. The inner surface of holes was 88
thickness of the composite plate. Therefore, three dimensional -
23 inspected visually to make sure that drilling process did not cause 89
nite element analysis is critical when through the thickness effect
24 any damage at this area. The dimensions of the plate and the con- 90
of composite bolt joint is the study subject. More recently, nite el-
25 guration of the holes are selected regarding the application of the 91
ement simulation and experimental tests were implemented in or-
26 structure as the yoke of helicopter. In order to study the effect of 92
der to investigate the effect of different parameters such as washer
27 the bolt, a full three dimensional nite element model is created 93
size, clamping torque, bolt stiffness, friction coecient, bolthole
28 using nite element software ANSYS 14.5. The model is created 94
clearance, plate geometry and layers sequences on the stress and
29 fully parametric to make it suitable for sensitivity analysis which 95
strain distribution in a composite bolt joint [1720]. Progressive
30 is the point of interest for future studies. 96
damage model was utilized to predict the failure initiation point
31 All parts of the model were meshed using a specic solid el- 97
and propagation pattern in composite bolt joint with different joint
32 ement (Solid185) from the software element library. This element 98
congurations and layer orientations [2123]. However, the previ-
33 can be used to model both structural and layered solid parts. It 99
ous studies did not take into account composite laminates with
34 has 8 nodes and three translation degrees of freedom at each node 100
higher thicknesses (more than 15 mm).
35 and can use both reduced and full integration methods. In order to 101
Recently some studies focused on effect of bolt joints on thick
36 dene the layers thicknesses and orientations, a shell section was 102
composite structural behavior. In a study by Cloud et al. [24],
37 associated with the solid element. Since in this study the laminate 103
38
strains beneath the washer were detected using Digital Speckle 104
is made of 80 unidirectional layers, a section consisting of 4 uni-
39
Pattern Interferometry (DSPI) method. In this work, to investigate 105
directional layers was dened and 20 elements were created along
40
strains beneath the washer, a transparent washer was manufac- 106
the thickness. Material properties of glass epoxy, washer and bolt
41
tured from polycarbonate sheet. The polycarbonate washer was 107
are dened according to the material library of the nite element
42 made with a thickness of about 4.3 times of a steel washer with
software (ANSYS) and summarized in Table 1. 108
43 the same inner and outer diameters, in order to provide the same
Fig. 2 shows the mesh pattern created for each part. Simi- 109
stiffness. In another study by Isaicu et al. [25], embedded ber op-
44 lar mesh pattern and sizing were implemented in contact areas 110
tic strain gages and nite element simulation were utilized to nd
45 between washer, bolt and plate. The created mesh improves the 111
strain distributions in a thick composite bolt joint. A very rough
46 accuracy of contact simulation between these parts and facilitates 112
47 estimation was utilized in this research, to convert the clamping the convergence of nonlinear contact analysis. Elements TARGE170 113
48 torque to bolt preload. A study was done by G. Restivo et al. [26], and CONTA174 were created at the mentioned areas to model 114
49 in order to nd through thickness stress distribution in a com- three dimensional contact. Fig. 3 demonstrates contact denition at 115
50 posite laminate connected to aluminum plate using single-lap bolt corresponding areas. Contact behavior between bolt headwasher, 116
51 joint. In this study the preload was measured using a load cell washerplate and bolt studhole inner area were all dened as 117
52 transducer. In all three above studies a single-lap bolt joint was exible surface-to-surface contact. 118
53 considered and joint is subjected to axial tension. However, studies Mesh sensitivity analysis was done in order to nd the opti- 119
54 on the effect of the bolt joint itself on a thick composite laminate mum mesh sizing. In this analysis, number of elements along the 120
55 are still lacking. thickness remained constant and the meshing pattern on the sur- 121
56 What is studied in this paper is the rst step in introducing face of the plate was changed. The contact force between washer 122
57 a numerical model to predict failure behavior and fatigue life in and plate was calculated and considered to perform mesh sensi- 123
58 the yoke of the helicopter considering all including aspects such tivity analysis. A very simple static analysis of the bolt and washer 124
59 as centrifugal forces, bending moments and clamping loads. The shows that the contact force between washer and plate should be 125
60 model was developed fully parametric to provide adequate de- theoretically equal to the pretension force applied in the stud of 126
61 sign exibility. In this rst step, the principle goal is to intro- the bolt. 127
62 duce an effective three dimensional nite element model which Table 2 summarizes the results obtained from three different 128
63 is able to simulate the structural behavior of a thick composite meshing patterns (different number of elements). In all three cases 129
64 plate subjected to bolt loads. In addition, two experimental ap- of Table 2, the same preload (8700 lbs. or 38.7 KN) was applied to 130
65 proaches are implemented to validate the nite element simulation the bolt. As it is illustrated in Table 2 mesh pattern 2 improved 131
66 results. the accuracy by about 60%, considering that the time of solving 132
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1 Table 1 67
2 Material properties (extracted from ANSYS workbench 14.5 material library). 68
3 Plate Glass/Epoxy 69
4 70
E1 E2 = E3 v23 v12 = v13 G23 G12 = G13
5 71
ANSYS 7.25 (Msi) 1.16 (Msi) 0.4 0.3 0.56 (Msi) 0.73 (Msi)
6 72
50 (GPa) 8 (GPa) 3.8 (GPa) 5 (GPa)
7 * 73
Technical Data Sheet 79 (Msi) 12 (Msi)
8 4862 (GPa) 714 (GPa) 74
9 75
Steel
10 76
11 E v 77
12 Washer Bolt Nut 29 (Msi) 0.30 78
200 (GPa)
13 79
*
14 www.cytec.com-CYCOM E773 Epoxy Prepreg Data Sheet (page 4). 80
15 81
16 Table 2 82
17 Mesh sensitivity analysis results. 83
18 Mesh pattern Total elements Number of contact elements Solving time Calculated contact force Difference between contact 84
19 washer-plate force and bolt preload 85
20 1 22880 80 5 min 8624 0.90% 86
21 2 41118 160 7 min 8670 0.35% 87
22 3 128084 320 40 min 8684 0.18% 88
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Fig. 2. Meshing pattern (the parts do not have the same scale).
35 101
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37
the nite element model, the hexagonal shape of the bolt head and 103
38
nut was replaced with a circle with the same area. The thickness 104
39
of the nut and bolt head are both 0.35 inch and bolt and nut were 105
40
glued to each other. The thickness of the washer was selected as 106
41
the average of the range introduced by the manufacturer. To model 107
42
the tension force propagated in the stud of the bolt due to clamp- 108
43
ing torque, a pretension section was created at the axial middle 109
44
section of the shaft of the bolt. The nodes of the pretension ele- 110
45
ments (PRETS179) are able to collapse into each other. Since the 111
bolt is constrained at each side by the contact with washers, col-
46 112
lapsing of pretension nodes into each other produces tension in
47 113
whole length of the shaft of the bolt.
48 114
To calculate the bolt preload due to clamping torque, a simple
49 115
approximation introduced by Speck [27] was used. Based on the
50 116
mentioned method, the load can be obtained using Equation (1),
51 117
where T is clamping torque, D is thread pitch diameter and K
52 118
is friction coecient. During experimental tests, the bolt tension
53 119
was measured by a load transducer installed in the shaft of the
54 120
bolt. Also a calibrated torque meter was utilized to apply differ-
55 121
ent clamping torques. The experiments results were utilized with
56 122
Fig. 3. The areas where contact elements were created. Equation (1), to nd the relation between the force and the torque
57 123
for this type of joint,
58 124
increased by 40%. Comparing patterns 2 and 3 shows that the run-
59
T =KDF (1) 125
60 ning time increased about 5 times and the accuracy improved up 126
61 to 47%. In addition by using mesh pattern 3, software did not show 3. Experimental investigation 127
62 any warning or error about the aspect ratio of elements. Therefore 128
63 it was decided to use mesh pattern 3. In this pattern elements Verication of the nite element simulation accuracy was done 129
64 sizes vary between 0.18 and 24.25 mm3 for the plate. using two experimental methods. First, strain gages were used 130
65 The dimensions of the bolt and washer used in the simulation to measure strain at critical points around the washer and along 131
66 and experiments are shown in Fig. 4. To reduce the complexity of the thickness of the laminate. The gage measurements were com- 132
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14 Fig. 4. The characteristics of the bolt and washer used for modeling and experiments. 80
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Fig. 5. Position of installed strain gages.
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31
pared with the results obtained from nite element model. Sec- Fig. 6. The speckle pattern created around the washer.
97
32
ond, Digital Image Correlation method was used to nd the strain 98
33
eld at the surface. For the rst step, six Tee Rosettes (Vishay 99
34
WK-06-030WT-120) were installed around the washer using M- 100
35 Bond 200 Adhesive from Micro-Measurements Company. The gage 101
36 sensitivity for this type of strain gage is 50 106 (50 micro) 102
37 strain. The gages were positioned at the points where the maxi- 103
38 mum and minimum strains (along bers and in transverse direc- 104
39 tion) were obtained from nite element analysis. Fig. 5 shows the 105
40 positions and orientations of the installed strain gages. 106
41 Gages numbered 1, 3 and 5 (G1, G3 and G5) measured the 107
42 strain in ber direction and gages numbered 2, 4 and 6 (G2, G4 108
43 and G6) measured strain transverse to the bers. Although the crit- 109
44 ical points were positioned at the edge of the washer according to 110
45 analysis, during experimental investigation the gages were placed 111
46 at a distance of 0.2 in (5 mm) from the edge to prevent gage dam- 112
47 ages. Hence, the radial distance of the center of G1 to G4 to the 113
48 center of the hole was 0.825 in (21 mm). Center point of G5 and Fig. 7. Bolt pretension vs elapsed time (T represents bolt clamping torque in lb-ft). 114
49 G6 were positioned at the middle thickness and along the central 115
50 axis of the hole. To nd the relation between applied torque and vide trackable patterns for the image processing. As Fig. 6 shows 116
51 the tension force in the stud of the bolt, a special bolt equipped a speckle pattern was created on the desired surface using paint 117
52 with a transducer gage installed in its shaft was utilized. The out- spray. Cameras with the resolution of 5 mega pixels were used to 118
53 put of the transducer gage is helpful to modify the load calculation capture images. The resolution of images was 289855 dpi and the 119
54 done in numerical analysis. eld of view was 3.1 inch 2.6 inch. 120
55 Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method was utilized to nd 121
56 strain distribution pattern around the hole in upper surface. DIC 4. Results 122
57 is a practical tool for full-eld in-plane strain investigation. The 123
58 method is based on comparison between digital images taken be- 4.1. Bolt preload 124
59 fore and after loading. The whole process consists of three main 125
60 steps: 1) preparing the specimen and imaging setup, 2) capturing The bolt preload versus the elapsed time is shown in Fig. 7. 126
61 photos before and after load application and 3) image process- As it was expected the tension force was zero at the beginning 127
62 ing using computer. During the last step the computer tracks the because there was no clamping torque. As a clamping torque of 128
63 different node displacements during loading and interpolates the 25 lb-ft was applied in the rst step the tension force increased 129
64 displacement between these nodes to nd the full displacement to 3.2 Klbs. During several steps the tension force increased when 130
65 and strain elds [28]. To make the specimen ready for test it is higher torque was applied. At the very rst few seconds of each 131
66 required to make random black and white spots in order to pro- torque increasing step, the tension jumped to a high level but in 132
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Fig. 8. Comparison of bolt tension relaxation between aluminum and glass/epoxy
15 (clamping torque is 90 lb-ft). 81
16 82
17 Fig. 10. Propagation of the tension force in the stud of the bolt. 83
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33 Fig. 9. Bolt tension vs clamping torque. 99
34 100
35 a few seconds it released until reaching a steady value. This phe- 101
36 nomenon is highlighted for clamping torque of 90 lb-ft in Fig. 7. 102
37 The mentioned tension reduction varied between 5% for 25 lb-ft of Fig. 11. Strains obtained from gages at positions 1 to 6 (refer to Fig. 5). 103
38 torque and 15% at the clamping torque of 90 lb-ft. This behavior 104
39 reveals the viscoelastic reaction of thick composite laminates when proximation. Based on the results, the friction coecient (refer to 105
40 they are subjected to bolt clamping pressure. Right after applying Equation (1)) obtained from experiments is 0.197, 0.194 and 0.195 106
41 a higher torque, the plate resists against deformation which causes for three different test cases. The average of these values was used 107
42 higher tension to be produced in the bolt shaft. Then the contact with Equation (1) to calculate bolt tension load at any clamping 108
43 pressure of washer pushes the material away in radial direction, torque desired for nite element analysis. 109
44 therefore the material beneath the washer moves to the sides and Fig. 10 illustrates the tension force propagation in the stud of 110
45 resistance against washer will decrease. As a consequence the ten- the bolt obtained from ANSYS. As it is indicated the tension force 111
46 sion in the bolt shaft releases. due to clamping of the bolt has a sharp drop at both stud ends 112
47 Although the effect of the thickness and material properties on while it reaches an approximately uniform distribution in the mid- 113
48 the viscoelastic behavior of thick composites requires further in- dle section. In Fig. 10, the dashed lines represent the position of 114
49 vestigation (which is not the subject of the present study), a simple the thickness of the washers at each side. It is obvious that be- 115
50 comparison between the sample made of 80 unidirectional layers tween two washers the tension force does not have signicant 116
51 of glass/epoxy and an aluminum plate with the same dimensions variation comparing to the top and bottom sections. For the anal- 117
52 has been performed. Fig. 8, compares the relaxation of the bolt ysis represented in Fig. 10 the dened pretension was 8700 lbs. 118
53 tension between aluminum and composite plate at the clamping (38.7 KN) and the average of tension force obtained after analysis 119
54 torque of 90 lb-ft. As it can be seen in Fig. 8, for composite lam- was 8635 lbs. (38.4 KN) which shows only 0.75% of difference. 120
55 inate higher tension was produced in the bolt while in case of 121
56 aluminum plate, the tension relaxation occurred with a faster rate. 4.2. Strain gages 122
57 The reduction in the force until reaching the steady value was 123
58 12.5% for composite plate and 5.3% for the aluminum one. Fig. 11 represents the results obtained from strain gages at dif- 124
59 To nd a single value for bolt tension at each clamping torque, ferent clamping torques at positions 1 to 6 (refer to Fig. 5). In 125
60 the test was duplicated while the load was monitored continu- Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 the amount of strain is represented in terms of 126
61 ously during the whole test process. When the load reached a micro strain (strain 106 ). Results show that under a single bolt 127
62 steady value, that value was selected as the preload at the spe- clamping force, strain in ber direction at top surface was higher 128
63 cic applied torque. Fig. 9 illustrates the pretension force as a in G1 comparing to G3. Also, it is obvious that G4 has higher 129
64 function of clamping torque in three experiments with different lateral strains in comparison with G2. In general, it could be con- 130
65 maximum clamping torques. As it is illustrated in Fig. 9, the re- cluded that lateral strains at the surface are higher compared to 131
66 lation between torque and bolt preload is linear with a good ap- longitudinal strains. This was expected since the plate is unidirec- 132
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31 Fig. 12. Strains obtained from strain gages and ANSYS. (EXP: Gages experiments, ANS: ANSYS.) 97
32 98
33 tional and the material is stiffer along bers rather than transverse 99
34 direction. G5 and G6 measured strains at the plate thickness. Be- 100
35 cause the loading (bolt force) is along the thickness of the plate 101
36 and plate is unidirectional, the strain in thickness direction (G6) 102
37 was higher compared to the longitudinal strain (G5). Considering 103
38 the fact that no failure was observed up to the clamping torque of 104
39 70 lb-ft, a linear relation between strains and clamping torque was 105
40 obtained. 106
41 Fig. 12 compares strains obtained from gages with ANSYS re- 107
42 sults at different clamping torques. For G1, maximum difference 108
43 between experimental and nite element is 9% (35 micro strain) Fig. 13. Selected areas to compare ANSYS and DIC results. 109
44 at clamping torque of 50 lb-ft. Hence the gages sensitivity was 110
45 50 micro strain, it can be said that ANSYS and experiment val- 111
which caused discrepancies between deformations elds obtained
46 ues correlate very well at this position. The same investigation for 112
from DIC and ANSYS. Since the strain is not affected by rigid body
47 G2 reveals that the maximum difference is 9% (55 micro strains) 113
motion, the verication of the nite element analysis results were
48 at the torque of 70 lb-ft which also represents the good correla- 114
done based on the strain elds comparison. Here, strains obtained
49 tion between results at this position. For G3 the amount of strain 115
at clamping torque of 70 lb-ft are reviewed to show the achieved
50 was not considerable comparing to the other positions. Although 116
agreement between these two methods. Fig. 13 represents the ar-
51 the maximum difference is 35%, it is only 35 micro strains which 117
eas under consideration to compare ANSYS and DIC results. In this
52 is less than the gage sensitivity. For G4 and G6 the maximum dif- 118
53
gure the dotted line represents the outer edge of the washer. 119
ference is less than 5% (40 micro strains) and nally for G5, the
54
Fig. 14 illustrates the distribution of the strain in axial direction 120
difference is 20% (35 micro strains). All the results show that the
55 (along the bers) at the top surface between holes number 1 and 121
maximum difference between strain gages and nite element anal-
56 number 2. Distribution of the strain in transverse direction (per- 122
ysis was in the order of the gages sensitivity. This fact shows that
57 the nite element model can predict the strain with good accuracy pendicular to the bers) between holes number 1 and number 3 123
58 within the gage sensitivity. is shown in Fig. 15. Comparison between strains distribution pat- 124
59 terns obtained from ANSYS and DIC reveals that there is a good 125
60 4.3. Digital image correlation (DIC) qualitative coordination between results. 126
61 To compare the results quantitatively, strain along lines ab 127
62 Comparing strains elds obtained from ANSYS simulation and and cd (refer to Fig. 13) have been extracted from both DIC and 128
63 DIC method reveals that the model is able to predict strains accu- nite element simulation results. Fig. 16 shows the distribution of 129
64 rately in thick composite plates subjected to the clamping forces strain in axial (along bers) direction from point a to point b 130
65 induced by the bolt. Results obtained from DIC showed that struc- (refer to Fig. 13). The amounts of strains obtained from both ANSYS 131
66 ture encountered a very small rigid body motion during the test, and DIC were normalized according to the maximum strain ob- 132
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Fig. 14. Strain in axial (ber) direction between holes 1 and 2 (refer to Fig. 13).
13 79
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15 81
Fig. 17. Normalized strain transverse to bers ( yy ) along line cd (refer to Fig. 13).
16 82
17 83
18 Table 3 84
Characteristics of plates considered for thickness effect investigation.
19 85
20 Number of unidirectional layers Total thickness 86
21 Plate 1 12 0.108 in (2.74 mm) 87
22 Plate 2 40 0.36 in (9.145 mm) 88
Plate 3 80 0.72 in (18.29 mm)
23 89
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26 Fig. 15. Strain in transverse direction between holes 1 and 3 (refer to Fig. 13). 92
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38 104
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41 107
42 108
Fig. 18. Normalized out of plane deformation (U Z ) at top surface, along line cd
43 Fig. 16. Normalized strain in ber direction ( xx ) along line ab (refer to Fig. 13). 109
(refer to Fig. 13).
44 110
45 tained in this direction which was 1200 106 inch/inch. Also quence, bolt and washer congurations and bolt preload remained 111
46 Fig. 17 illustrates the distribution of the strain in transverse di- constant. Table 3 shows the characteristics of selected plates. 112
47 rection (perpendicular to bers) from point c to point d (refer Fig. 18 shows the out of plane deformation (U Z ) at top surface 113
48 to Fig. 13). Similar to axial strain the transverse strain was normal- and along line cd (refer to Fig. 13). In Fig. 18, the dotted line rep- 114
49 ized using the maximum value which was 2120 106 inch/inch. resents the position of the edge of the washer. It can be observed 115
50 It is obvious from Fig. 16 and Fig. 17, not only ANSYS model corre- that for plates with higher thickness the effect of the washer con- 116
51 lates qualitatively with DIC results but also there is a good match tact propagated over a larger area around the washer. In addition 117
52 between the strains quantities obtained from these two analysis. for the same preload in the bolt, the plate with higher thickness 118
53 Unfortunately the test setup did not provide enough space to in- had higher deformation in the area beneath the washer as well 119
54 stall the camera close enough to the thickness side to perform DIC as in outer region. The values of out of plane deformation (U Z ) 120
55 on the thickness. at the distance of 0.4 in (10.16 mm) from the hole center along 121
56 line cd (refer to Fig. 13) showed that Plate 3 deformation is 4.8 122
57 times higher than Plate 1 deformation. For all three plates the de- 123
4.4. Thickness effect
58 formation changed linearly in the area beneath the washer except 124
59 at regions close to the washer inner and outer edges. Since the 125
60 In order to demonstrate the effect of thickness on stress dis- inner diameter of washer is 0.53 inch while the hole diameter is 126
61 tribution in a composite plate under bolt load, three plates with 0.5 inch, the material at the vicinity of the hole edge is not in con- 127
62 different number of layers were considered. As it is indicated in tact with washer and it can ip up. This phenomenon causes the 128
63 nite element simulation section, the thickness of each layer is nonlinear behavior which can be observed at the rst points of all 129
64 0.009 inch (0.23 mm). Three numbers of layers 12, 40 and 80 three graphs in Fig. 18. 130
65 were considered to investigate the effect of the plate thickness. As can be seen from Fig. 18, the effect of washer load started 131
66 For all analyses the material of the plate, unidirectional layers se- to vanish at the point located on the washer outer edge (at the 132
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17 83
18 84
19 85
20 86
21 87
22 88
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24 90
25 Fig. 19. Interlaminar normal stress, S Z at X = 0. 91
26 92
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28 94
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30 96
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33 99
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36 102
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46 112
47 113
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49 115
50 116
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52 118
53 Fig. 20. Interlaminar shear stress, S Y Z at X = 0. 119
54 120
55 distance of 0.53 inch from the hole center). Therefore the edge of and Y = 0.4, 0.53 and 0.65 (in) through the thickness of the plate 121
56 the washer was set as one of the critical reference points. Also two were investigated. 122
57 other points were selected to study the distribution of interlami- Fig. 19 presents the distribution of interlaminar normal stress 123
58 nar normal and shear stresses along the thickness of the plate. The (S Z ) along the thickness at X = 0 and Y = 0.4, 0.53 and 0.65 124
59 position of the mentioned points were selected in way to include (inch). Since plates were unidirectional, the distribution of the 125
60 the interlaminar stresses distribution investigation beneath, at the stresses along thickness was symmetric. Therefore the stresses are 126
61 edge and in outer region of the washer. A coordinate system was plotted from top surface up to middle plane of the thickness. 127
62 dened to simplify results representation. The origin of the coordi- Fig. 19 shows that for all three selected locations the variation of 128
63 nate system was placed at the center of the hole at the top surface, the normal stress along thickness is higher for plates with higher 129
64 X was dened in ber direction and Y was in transverse to the thicknesses. For the thinnest laminate (Plate 1) the normal stress 130
65 bers. Z was considered along the thickness. According to the (S Z ) was almost constant at Y = 0.4 inch (beneath the washer) 131
66 above coordinate system, the distribution of S Z and S Y Z at X = 0 and the compressive stress was higher than the other two plates. 132
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