Failure mechanism of riveted joint in fibre metal laminates

The paper reports on an investigation involving a comparison between a fibre metal laminate (FML) and typical aluminium alloy fuselage material (2024-T3). Results are presented on the effect of panel material, laminate stacking stiffness and forming load on the stress distribution within both the FML and the 2024-T3 riveted joints subjected to external loads. The stress distribution was predicted using deform, finite element code. To obtain a better understanding of the deformation process due to riveting and the stress state after elastic recovery a number of axisymmetrical models were simulated. It was noted that the forming load, ply stacking arrangement and the rivet material had a significant effect on hole fill and the initial stress distribution within the panels. The onset of delamination between the prepreg and the metal layers of the FML was predicted by examining both the radial and shear stress intensity on the interface between these two layers.