Fatigue behaviour of riveted Glare lap joints

Fibre metal laminates, such as Glare, are a family of materials with very i nteresting properties for fatigue-critical applications. This article descr ibes the results of a research programme carried out to evaluate the fatigu e and damage tolerance characteristics of riveted Glare lap joints, represe ntative of fuselage longitudinal joints. The comparison with the behaviour of metallic joints shows that different contributions are made to the total fatigue life, with the crack propagation life being by far the longer one for the Glare material whereas the crack nucleation life covers almost the entire fatigue life for metallic joints. Design rules should take this pecu liar behaviour into consideration, to achieve the maximum benefit in the us e of this class of materials in fatigue-critical applications.