Failure Response of Two Serial Bolted Aluminum Sandwich Composite Plates

The scope of this study is to examine the failure response in an aluminum-glass-epoxy sandwich composite plate with two serial circular holes, which is subjected to a traction force by two serial bolts. To determine the effects of joint geometry and applied/without preload moments on the bearing strength and failure mode, parametric studies were carried out experimentally. The end distance to diameter (E/D) and width to diameter (W/D) ratios in the specimens were designed from 1-5 to 2-5, respectively, whereas the distance between two serial holes and diameter ratio were fixed as 4. Besides, each type of specimen were tested under various applied preload moments as 2, 3, 4, 5 Nm and without preload moments (0 Nm). According to the experimental results, the bearing strength and maximum failure load generally increase by increasing E/D and W/D ratios and of applied preload moments. Besides, failure modes strictly affected these parameters