Tensile Strength of Adhered Shaft Joints between CFRP Tube and Stainless Steel at Low Temperature

Abstract

The strength of shaft joints between carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP)and stainless steel bonded with epoxy resin was analytically and experimentally investigated at room temperature and low temperature (-70°C). The distributions of stress for tensile load and thermal stress for cooling in the joint were analyzed by applying the elastic finite-element method. The strength of the joints was predicted by applying the strength laws of CFRP, stainless steel, adhesive layer and their interfaces to the calculated stress distributions. The predicted strength was compared with the experimental strength of the joints. The effects of the overlapped length and diameter ratio between the adherends on the joint strength were examined at both conditions of room and low temperatures. The joint strength for the initial failure is saturated by a certain overlapped length, but the strength decreases with increasing diameter ratio. The final joint strength at low temperature is larger than that at room temperature.