Influence of pinning on static strength of co-cured metal-GFRP hybrid single lap joints

This study presents an experimental investigation into the effects of through-thickness pinning reinforcement on the static strength and damage tolerance of hybrid mild steel-glass fibre prepreg co-cured composite single lap joints (SLJ). Stainless steel pins of 0.3 mm in diameter were inserted as mechanical fastening, in addition to adhesive bonding, to form hybrid joints between metal and glass fibre reinforced polymer substrates. Using the hybrid SLJ tensile testing, the failure modes and static strength were experimentally determined for mild steel-glass fibre prepreg co-cured composites. It is revealed that pinning can improve the static failure load via bridging mechanism by as much as 58% depending on the number and location of pins and the presence of clamping due to bent-ends.