Influence of Assembly Parameters on Tensile Behavior of Hybrid CMC and Superalloy Bolted Joints by Progressive Damage Analysis

With the considerable applications of ceramic matrix composites (CMC) in aircraft engineering, the design of CMC bolted joint gains paramount attention because of its capacity to to improve load-bearing efficiency of aircraft key structure. In this work, a 3D finite element model was established to predict tensile performance and failure modes of single-lap, single-bolt 2D C/SiC composite, and superalloy joint, which considers the progressive damage behavior of 2D woven C/SiC composites. On the basis of the developed progressive damage model, a parametric study was carried out to illustrate the effects of bolt preload and bolt-hole clearance on mechanical behaviors of the hybrid bolted joint. It was found that the increase in the value of bolt preload made the failure load grow first and then drop, and the optimum value of bolt preload 5.00 kN generated 56.47% rise in the initial failure load and 22.83% rise in the final failure load for the bolted joint in comparison with zero preload case. As the clearance increased from 0 to 2.00%, the initial and final failure loads respectively declined by 45.88% and 24.02% for 2.00% bolt-hole clearance relative to the neat-fit case. The loss in failure loads can be reduced to compressive stress concentration around the fastening hole-edge area, leading to the appearance of earlier damages by the introduction of increasing bolt hole clearance.