Bolted double-lap composite joints under mechanical and thermal loading

This study concerns the determination of the contact stresses and contact r egion around bolt holes and the bolt load distribution in single- and doubl e-lap joints of composite laminates with arbitrarily located bolts under ge neral mechanical loading conditions and uniform temperature change. The unk nown contact stress distribution and contact region between the bolt and la minates and the interaction among the bolts require the bolt load distribut ion, as well as the contact stresses, to be as part of the solution. The pr esent method is based on the complex potential theory and the variational f ormulation in order to account for bolt stiffness, bolt-hole clearance, and finite geometry of the composite laminates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.