3. Design, calculation and sizing of bonded joints

3.1 Different composite assembly methods

• Composites need to be joined for a variety of reasons and in a variety of situations:

  • production of large parts that cannot be molded in a single operation due to the limited size of the manufacturing equipment (presses, autoclaves). These parts have to be assembled lengthwise (e.g. airplane wings and hulls, boat hulls), which can be achieved in a variety of ways (overlapping, profiling and embedding, laminating, external parts can be fixed to internal spars, which are in turn assembled by welding, bolting or riveting). The joints must be designed to work in shear;

  • reinforcement of thin plates, flat or curved, with stiffening profiles (figure...