Design and mechanical characterisation of a layer wise build AFP insert in comparison to a conventional solution

Joining methods that present a detachable connection of thin walled fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) structures greatly increase the proliferation of lightweight FRP-parts. This paper describes the design of a new layer wise build insert solution named multilayer insert (MLI) in a comparative study in terms of mechanical performance. The MLI is designed to be easily integrable into existing automated fiber placement processes. The mechanical characteristics and damage behavior of the MLI is compared with a commercially available insert serving as reference. Comparable results are obtained by testing the specimen in the same test setup. Both, the results of the MLI and the reference specimen show that a geometrical optimization is able to change the failure modes of the connection thereby keeping the surrounding FRP intact while improving the mechanical performance of the entire component.