Application of CT Scanning to Investigate the Failure of Carbon Fibre Composite Bolted Joints

摘要

This paper examines the benefits of X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) for inspection of internal damage in composite structures. An investigation into the failure mechanisms of carbon fibre bolted joints using CT scanning was conducted at the German Aerospace Centre in Stuttgart. Two different joint geometries were investigated; one loaded in the bearing direction and one loaded in the pull-through direction. The effect of specimen loading rate was also considered. The paper presents the CT scan results for the bolted joints. Explicit Finite Element (FE) analysis of the bolted joints was also conducted, and the predicted failure modes were in good agreement with experimental observations. The CT and FE results were combined to investigate the progression of failure within the composite material over time.