An investigation on bearing strength behaviour of pinned joints in graphene-embedded carbon/epoxy composites

Abstract Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have been steadily growing over the last couple of decades due to their durability and sustainability. Carbon fibre/epoxy (CFRP) is a polymer-based composite material with adaptable design characteristics that increases stiffness and strength, provided by carbon fiber reinforcement. In this work, tensile pin bearing loading is applied to carbon fibre/epoxy embedded with graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) composite laminates. Carbon fibre/epoxy laminates have GNP weight percentage of 0.25. The study’s focus on how the inclusion of GNP affects hole quality and pin bearing strength. The impact of traditional and abrasive water jet (AWJ) drilling on bearing strength and hole quality is highlighted. According to experimental findings, bearing strength of CFRP laminates was impacted by the drilled hole’s surface quality. Compared to traditional drilling, AWJ machining produced a hole with a higher surface quality. The pin bearing strength of AWJ drilled hole was higher than that of a normally drilled hole. The bearing strength of CFRP composites was enhanced by the addition of GNP.