Investigations on the Mechanical Joints Prepared From Electron Beam Cured Carbon Epoxy Nanocomposite Laminates

Abstract

In many development sectors, the fuel efficiency and harmful emissions from machines into the environment are the major concerns. Furthermore, these machines are made of conventional metallic materials that are susceptible to corrosion. To tackle these problems, various industries and researchers are focusing on the use of alternative lightweight materials that replace the old conventional materials to increase the strength and efficiency of the product. Therefore, a huge consideration is given to the lightweight fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials due to its high strength and stiffness to their weight ratios and good corrosion resistance properties. The curing process plays a key role in preparation of these composite materials. The thermal curing process is the recognized manufacturing technology for curing of FRP composites, which consists of several hours of material heating at high temperatures, mostly under pressure and in the presence of highly toxic amine-based hardeners, but now the industries are focusing on the alternative methods such as electron beam (EB) curing process that have evidenced a huge transformation in the field of FRP composites. In actual working conditions, the application of FRPs requires joining of materials with each other or with metallic or non-metallic components. Two types of joints i.e., adhesive joints and mechanical joints are used for joining of FRPs. Adhesive joints being permanent in nature fails to operate in the same manner after the joint is opened. However, mechanical joints are preferred due to their ease of assembly and detachability. The mechanical joints seem to be simple, but they are much more than that because of stress concentration due to drilled holes. Improper design of a joint may lead to a failure of the whole structure. So, it is necessary to investigate the behavior of joints to achieve the maximum load-carrying capacity. In numerous applications of marine and civil sectors, the FRP composites and their mechanical joints have