Failure of unidirectional-woven composite laminated pin-loaded joints

A combined test and numerical study has been conducted for the failure analysis of unidirectional and woven composite laminated joints of an aircraft control rod. Joints with nine different geometries were tested under pin loading to evaluate the effects of the joint geometry on the failure load and mode. Nonlinear finite element analyses are performed with consideration of the contact and friction between the pin and the laminate. Failure was estimated on the characteristic curve using the Tsai-Wu and Yamada-Sun criteria. It was found that a finite element analysis based on the Tsai-Wu failure criterion with a friction coefficient of 0.1 most accurately predicts the failure load and mode of the joints.