Author(s)

G. De Roeck & M.M. Abdel Wahab

Abstract

Glass fibre reinforced pipes are used in many applications especially where the corrosion resistance and the light weight have to be considered. This paper outlines a fracture mechanics approach for optimizing the geometry of an adhesive joint for glass fibre reinforced pipes. 1 Introduction The studied connection is shown in figure 1. The two pipe ends are connected together using a prepreg multi-layered laminate. The system is heated up through an internal or external heating system. A 3-D cyclic symmetric model is proposed to optimize the joint geometry, the prepreg layer thickness and stacking sequence. This model assumes that the geometry and the loading conditions are repeated in the circumferential direction. Thus, a substructure model of 0.1° sector can be analyzed in ste

Keywords