Behavior of pin-loaded laminated composites

In this study, an investigation was carried out to determine the effects of joint geometry and fiber orientation on the failure strength and failure mode in a pinned joint laminated composite plate. Behavior of pin-loaded laminated composites with different stacking sequence and different dimensions has been observed experimentally. E/glass-epoxy composites were manufactured to fabricate the specimens. Mechanical properties of the composites were characterized under tension, compression and in-plane shear in static loading conditions. Laminated composites were loaded through pins. Single-hole pin-loaded specimens were tested for their tensile response and width-to-hole diameter (W/D) and edge distance-to-hole diameter (E/D) ratios evaluated. A series of experiments was performed with six different material configurations ([0/+/- 45](s)-[90/+/- 45](s), [0/90/0](s)-[90/0/90](s) and [90/0](2s)-[+/- 45](2s)), in all, over 120 specimens. E/D ratios and W/D ratios of plates were changed from 1 to 5 and 2 to 5, respectively. Failure propagation and failure type were observed on the specimens. The influence of the joint geometry on the strength of the pin-loaded composites was assessed. When laminated composite plates were loaded to final failure, three basic failure modes consisting of net-tension, shear out and bearing failure were observed for the different geometric dimensions. All the connections tested showed that the fiber orientations have a definite influence on the position around hole circumference at which failure initiated. Net-tension failure occurred for specimens that had small width and large end distance. When the width was increased, the specimens which had small end distances failed in the shear-out modes. When the end distance was increased, bearing failure developed in addition to shear-out failure. The experimental results showed that the ultimate load capacities of E/glass-epoxy laminate plates with pin connection were increased by increasing W and E. However, increasing the E/D and W/D ratios beyond a critical value has an insignificant effect on the ultimate load capacity of the connection.