Research database

The use of fibre-reinforced polymer composites in the transportation field has been tremendously growing, as an alternative to metals for the design of lightweight structures. Structural applications of composite materials often involve joining different parts. Among the available joining techniques, adhesive bonding represents an excellent candidate as it leads to light and cheap connections. Purely bonded structural joints are not feasible in some fields, due to the impossibility of proving the absence of defects such as poor bonds due to surface contamination and thus predicting the in-service joint performances. This forces the use of heavier and more expensive hybrid bonded/bolted joints. The aim of the project is to develop an integrated methodology scalable at in industrial level, for the production, design and monitoring of composite bonded joints, to replace hybrid connections with more convenient and safe fully bonded solutions.