Research of Fretting Fatigue Characteristics of a Fiber Metal Laminate – A Steel Single-Lap Joint

The Smith–Watson–Topper model based on the critical plane method was constructed to predict the fretting fatigue characteristics at the riveting hole, which permits of improving the fretting fatigue performance of the riveted joint of fiber metal laminates. The effect of four design parameters, plate width, hole-to-end distance, pretightening force, and friction coefficient, on the fretting fatigue characteristics of laminate-steel single-lap rivet joint is analyzed. A four-factor three-level quadratic orthogonal combination test is carried out to find the optimal design parameters so that the riveted joint has the smallest model fatigue damage value. The lightweight design of riveted joints is also realized by adjusting the lay-ups of the laminate. The highest model value is revealed at the contact edge of the rivet and laminate. An increase in the above design parameters contributes to the reduction of model values; under a constant load, the smallest model value is obtained, which is 47% less than that before optimization; considering such factors as weight and critical line loads, a satisfactory lightweight design can be obtained.