Concept model validation for predicting the behavior of bolted composites

摘要

Replacing metals with composite sandwiches in vehicles where weight must be drastically reduced and at the same time the structural integrity of the product should be reassured demands efficient joint concepts with trustful predictions. A virtual testing methodology is proposed that can provide accurate, trustful and fast concept models for predicting the influential parameters of bolts when joining composites. First a limited number of experiments on tensile single lap samples describe the real joint behavior; then 3D FEM models simulate the local joint behavior calibrated based on the experiments; finally the 3D models propose the best representation of the concept models concerning bolts and feed the concept models with real values. The methodology is being built on the coupon level and with the next goal to be extended in a system level for real applications.