Study of Load Transfer and Fracture on Composite-to-Metal-Wire Joints.

In order to connect a composite structure to a metallic structure, a hybrid composite/metal-wire laminate has been considered. Such a hybrid laminate raises a question of interface strength between the composite layer and metal-wire layer, and what kind of lay-up configuration would be the best. In order to answer the question, the following three joints were considered: butt joint, overlap joint, and modified-wire-end-shape joint. The goal of this research was to numerically determine which joint would be the strongest based on its components of fracture toughness under various loading conditions such as tension, shear and bending. A defect was included between and parallel to the interfaces to simulate a crack in the critical regions of the models. The crack growth, due to interlaminar tension and/or sliding, is analyzed using the crack closure technique. Finite element formulations in this research are carried out by using ANSYS finite element software.