A study on the lap shear strength of a co-cured single lap joint

In this paper, the lap shear strength of a co-cured single lap joint subjected to a tensile load was investigated by experimental analysis. Co-cured joint specimens with several different bonding parameters such as bond length, surface roughness, and stacking sequence of the composite laminate were fabricated and tested. The dependence of the lap shear strength of the co-cured joint on the bonding parameters was investigated from the experimental results. The failure mechanism of the co-cured single lap joint was partially cohesive failure. The lap shear strength of the co-cured single lap joint was significantly affected by the bond length and the stacking sequence of the composite laminate. However, the effect of surface roughness on the lap shear strength of the co-cured single lap joint was not so significant.