Investigation on the structural behavior of a metallically 3D-reinforced CFRP/CFRP joint using a variable search based on finite element analyzes

A numerical study on the structural mechanics of bonded composite structures, which were interlaminary reinforced by metallic sheet and pin elements, is presented in this paper. For the investigation of the potential of this reinforcing technology, finite element models on meso and macro scale were studied, which were successfully validated against experimental test results. On the example of quasi-statically loaded single-lap shear test specimens, the macro scale model was used to implement different configurations of the reinforcements including variations of the pin geometry as well as their arrangements. Passing a variable search according to Shainin, the influences of various design factors on the structural performance of the reinforced joints were evaluated. In addition, the main effects were identified as the pin and sheet thickness among others concerning the applicable load as well as the elongation of the joint. Furthermore, the analyzes of the interdependencies showed, that the majority of the variables weakens the effects of the other ones.