A FRACTURE-MECHANICS APPROACH FOR DESIGNING AN ADHESIVE JOINT FOR GLASS-FIBER-REINFORCED PIPES

Glass fibre-reinforced pipes are used in many applications, especially where corrosion resistance and the light weight have to be considered . This paper outlines a fracture mechanics approach for optimizing the geometry of an adhesive joint for glass fibre-reinforced pipes. The m ain tasks of this project are to optimize the coupler properties and t he joint geometry. Cracks can originate at the coupler edges and at th e interface between the two pipes. Fracture mechanics parameters are e xtracted from a finite element model and are used to optimize the join t length, coupler thickness, taper slope, coupler stacking sequence, a nd material properties.