Investigation on a novel bolted joint scheme for foam inserted top-hat stiffened composite plates

Joint schemes are very important in the design of bolted joints in huge composite structures. This article describes the scheme, manufacturing method, performance testing and simulation of a novel bolted joint configuration for top-hat stiffened composite plates. Firstly, a bolted joint scheme is proposed for use in top-hat stiffened composite plates, after which the manufacturing method of the joint scheme is presented, as is the fabrication of test specimens and their bending performance are tested. Then, a numerical method is proposed to analyze the performance of these specimens. Drawing on experimental and simulated results, seven failure modes are summarized with varied geometrical parameter. We change the angle of top clamp θ and the length of the foam block Lx, and discuss the relationship between the mutative design parameters and bending performance. Suitable design parameters are obtained and suggestions for the joint scheme are offered. It is found that good mechanical performances can be achieved with the proposed scheme through suitable parameter design, and it is also found the simulated result agrees the experiment well, which provides a useful method for the bolted joint design of foam inserted top-hat stiffened composite plates.