Study of material mass efficiency and numerical analysis of modified CFRP laminate in bearing conditions

In aircraft structures, skeleton supports the primary loads and transfers point loads into the skin. Connections of structural components are the areas of point load transfer. The aim of the paper is a study of material quality in mechanical joints and analysis of a laminate in bearing conditions. A mass efficiency parameter is necessary to perform a mass–strength optimisation, e.g. quasi-isotropic CFRP are examples of high specific stiffness materials. Unfortunately, strength of laminates is reduced by notch sensitivity. An interesting attempt to improve bearing performance of composites is bonding titanium foils in the hole vicinity. The object of study is HTA/913 laminate. Analyses are performed for basic and locally modified laminates with different foils content and configuration. Interface cohesive model is used to simulate the delamination process. Bearing strength depends on parameters of the adhesive interface and insert material content and stiffness. Numerical and experimental results are in good agreement.