Numerical Prediction of Deflection and Stress Responses of Damaged Hybrid Single-Lap Joint Components and Experimental Verification

This research reported the deflection and stress behavior of a hybrid single-lap adhesively bonded joint, accounting for numerical damage. For the numerical analysis, a computer-aided engineering (CAE) model has been developed in ABAQUS for four different cases: single-lap adhesive joints (SLAJ), their delaminated counterparts (SLAJ-D), hybrid single-lap adhesive joints (HSLAJ) and hybrid delaminated joints (HSLAJ-D). The model adequacy, including solution stability, has been verified by comparing the results with published results, in-house experimental values, and mesh independence tests. Experimental validations are presented for all joint types, with numerical values closely matching the experimental data at higher loading conditions but not at lower ones. Tensile tests conducted on HSLJ and HSLJ-D indicate that HSLJ-D exhibits superior load-bearing capacity, achieving higher tensile loads of 5430 N and 5290 N compared to HSLJ. The numerical validation shows a maximum deviation of 8.63% when compared with the literature data. The developed numerical model predicts the deflection results in close agreement with the experimental data, with a minimum deviation of 0.381% and a maximum deviation of 13.556%. Further, the CAE model is extended to compute both deflections and stress data by varying the parameters (related to joint geometry and damage), which affect the stiffness values (fiber orientation, aspect ratio, core-to-face seat thickness ratio, delamination shape). Finally, the influence of all parameters on the mid-span deflection and adhesive stresses is discussed, demonstrating that the bolted-bonded configuration significantly enhances overall structural stiffness and strength.