Experimental and numerical simulation of composite laminates bolted joints with local reinforcement

Four different composite laminates specimens of bolted joints with local reinforcement were prepared by vacuum assisted resin injection molding (VARI). The mechanical behavior of the composite bolted joints specimens was experimental and numerical investigated. In the numerical study, the bolted of static tensile was deemed to a quasi static problem. An explicit dynamic solver and ABAQUS user subroutine VUMAT were implemented to simulate the 3D progressive failure process of composite bolted joints. Interface delamination was simulationed using a cohesive element layer between laminates and reinforcement layer. The numerical results are in good correlation with the experimental results, which demonstrate that the simulation is feasible. The research results show that bolted joints with different local reinforcement methods affect connection properties of laminates obviously, and the connection properties of laminates are significantly improved by 0/90/0/90_S internal fiber layer reinforcement.