Fatigue of hybrid (adhesive/bolted) joints in SRIM composites

This paper presents a study on the static and fatigue performance of adhesive/bolted (hybrid) joints in a structural reaction injection molded composite. It is shown that the hybrid joints have a higher static failure load and longer fatigue life than the adhesive joints. However, the performance of hybrid joints depends on the washer design. Washers that provide full lateral clamping pressure over the entire overlap area have a better performance than those that provide partial lateral clamping pressure. Finite element analysis of adhesive joints shows that the presence of lateral clamping can significantly reduce the maximum peel stress at the adhesive-substrate interface and thus help in achieving improved joint performance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.