COMPOSITES

SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031
www.elsevier.com/locate/compscitech

Bearing strength and failure behavior of bolted composite joints

(part I: Experimental investigation)
Yi Xiao *, Takashi Ishikawa
Advanced Composites Evaluation Technology Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 6-13-1, Osawa,
Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-0015, Japan

Received 27 January 2004; received in revised form 31 January 2005; accepted 14 February 2005
Available online 19 April 2005

Abstract

The experimental investigations described in this paper were conducted in order to study the strength and failure of mechanically
fastened composite joints. Two different types of polymer–matrix-based Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic laminates were selected to
evaluate the effect of resin properties on bearing response. A special measurement system using a non-contact electro–optical exten-
someter to measure hole elongation is proposed. During static tensile testing, the response of bearing damage was monitored by
acoustic emission measurement. Several specimens were observed by means of soft X-ray radiography and SEM at different loading
levels to assess internal damage. The observations indicate that the bearing failure can be outlined as a process of compressive dam-
age accumulation, and can be divided into the following four stages: damage onset; damage growth; local fracture; structural frac-
ture. Major features of bearing failure include fiber micro-buckling, matrix cracking, delamination and out-of-plane shear cracking.
Bearing strength and failure mode should also depend on the lateral constraints and the ‘‘toughness’’ of different polymer–matrix
based laminates.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Composite materials; Bearing strength; Failure mechanisms; Non-destructive testing; Mechanically fastened joint

1. Introduction lems of bolt bending and hole elongation under com-

As is well known, degradation and failure of aircraft
structures frequently initiate at the joints; therefore, ade-
quacy of joint design exerts strong influence on safety,
durability and reliability. Next-generation mega-carrier
aircraft or supersonic transport (SST) aircraft will make
extensive use of advanced composite materials in both
primary and secondary structures, and are likely to use
mechanically fastened joints.
Mechanically fastened joints have generally been
used for highly loaded composite components, although
the low bearing stiffness of composites can lead to prob-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 422 40 3000x5433; fax: +81 422
40 3599.
E-mail address: xiaoyi@chofu.jaxa.jp (Y. Xiao).
pressive loading. Several significant research papers [1–
4] on fastener joints have been published, examining
the dependence on specimen geometry and fiber orienta-
tion. In summary, the joints would be expected to even-
tually fail in a variety of modes; namely, net-tension,
shearing-out, and bearing. In terms of structural design,
bearing failure preferably occurs as a combination of
these three modes, in view of stability of the failure pro-
cess. However, bearing failure is a local compressive fail-
ure mode due to contact and frictional forces acting on
the surface of the hole [5]. This fracture process is very
complicated and is influenced by many parameters,
including washer dimension and lateral clamping force
[6–10].
Crews [6] conducted static and fatigue tests under
bolt-bearing loads for a range of bolt clamp-up

0266-3538/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2005.02.011
 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031 1023

torques. He reported that bolt clamp-up force exerts a before the bearing test, which revealed no internal de-
significant effect on both static strength and fatigue fects in the materials attributable to the manufacturing
limit. Eriksson [7] has shown that bearing strength is process. Although, the manufacturing method and pro-
influenced by several important parameters, including cesses have profound effects on the final properties of
lateral constraint conditions and ply orientations. composite materials owing to their effect on the micro-
Wang et al. [8] used bearing response and bearing structure and internal stresses, this paper is not primar-
strength of bolted joints to examine the bearing failure ily concerned with this problem. For reference, the
mechanism as a function of clamping pressure. In basic data of the two composite systems are listed in
their work, a pin-loaded bearing (without lateral Table 1.
clamping) test and a bolted bearing (with lateral Fig. 1 shows the geometrical configuration and test-
clamping) test were conducted to evaluate the bearing ing setup of the double lap joint specimens. The double
damage. Wu and Sun [9] investigated the behavior of lap joining configuration was adopted; the bolt fastener
pin-contact failure of composite laminates and found was attached to the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic
that fiber micro-buckling in the 0-deg plies of the lam- (CFRP) specimen with a chromium molybdenum steel
inate plays an important role in the initiation of bear-
ing damage. Camanho et al. [10] carried out a detailed
Table 1
experimental investigation for three basic failure
Summary of the two composite systems (reference data)
modes of a joint, and their results show that the main
IM-7/ IM600/
mechanism of bearing failure is accumulated delami-
PIXA Q133
nation damage. As the above literature survey indi-
Mechanical properties of unidirectional lamina
cates, the damage phenomena of bearing failure in a
Longitudinal modulus (GPa) 152.4 148.3
bolted composite joint are very complicated. One rea- Transverse modulus (GPa) 8.06 8.1
son for such complication can be ascribed to out-of- Longitudinal tensile strength (MPa) 2293 2700
plane compressive deformation in the vicinity of the Longitudinal compression strength (MPa) 948.2 1037
hole. In other words, fiber micro-buckling, matrix Transverse tensile strength (MPa) 66.2 63.7
Transverse compression strength (MPa) 210 235
cracks, delamination, and other forms of damage fre-
DCB fracture toughness (J/m2) 1400 336.8
quently serve as the 3D failure mode under compres-
sive load in laminated composites. Therefore, an Manufacturing process Hot Autoclave
pressing
understanding of the occurrence and progress of the Temperature (°C) 380 180
microscopic damage is indispensable to the evaluation Fiber volume fractions (%) 56 55
of the parameters of damage tolerance in structural
design.
The primary objectives of this study are to: (a) offer
the basic data for design and strength prediction of
bolted composite joints; (b) clarify the relationship
between bearing strength and damage behavior; (c) eval-
uate the effect of ‘‘toughness’’ of different polymer–
matrix-based laminates on the failure mechanism; (d)
verify the validity of the proposed measurement system
for characterizing bearing strength.

2. Experimental details [11]

2.1. Material and specimen preparation

Two material systems were selected for comparison

of bearing strength in the present work: IM-7/PIXA
graphite–polyimide composite from Mitsui Chemicals
Co. Ltd. [12], and IM600/Q133 toughened graphite–
epoxy from Toho Rayon Co. Ltd. [13]. These com-
posites are 16-layer quasi-isotropic [45/0/-45/90]2S
laminates of identical stacking sequence and unidirec-
tional prepreg, fabricated by hot pressing for IM-7/
PIXA and by autoclave for IM600/Q133. Some speci- Fig. 1. Geometrical configuration and testing setup of bolted joint
mens were subjected to ultrasonic C-scan detection specimens.
1024 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031
fixture. Tightening torque was adjusted at 12–13
kgf/cm
1 by means of a mini-torque wrench. All speci-
mens were made with the same width-to-diameter ratio
of W/d = 8, edge-distance-to-diameter ratio of e/d = 3,
and specimen length of 110 mm. Average thickness of
the specimen was 2.24 ± 0.03 mm for the IM-7/PIXA
composite and 2.30 ± 0.03 mm for the IM600/Q133
composite.
2.2. Experimental procedures
In order to measure hole elongation for the bolted
joint specimen, a simple and highly functional measure-
ment system was developed, featuring a non-contact
electro–optical extensometer (product of ZIMMER
Co., MODEL-100B). This system does not require spe-
cial fixtures, and has been proposed as a practical test
method [14]. In this study, this technique was also
adopted to evaluate the bearing strength of the bolted
composite joints. System configuration is illustrated in
Fig. 2. The ZIMMER electro–optical extensometer is
able to convert in-plane movement of a black-and-white
edge (called a target) into a voltage proportional to its
displacement. In other words, the optical image of the
target is converted into an electronic signal by means
of a special photo cathode. In the conventional measur-
ing method by contact form, metal fittings (yokes) that
Fig. 2. Schematic for measurement system using a non-contact
electro–optical extensometer.
link the two side edges of the specimen with the pinhead
must be installed [15,16], making fixture design very dif-
ficult. In the present method, pin relative displacement
can be measured by merely bonding the black-and-white
target.
Testing was conducted by means of an INSTRON-
8501 machine in tensile mode. Cross-head speed was
1.0 mm/min. During static tests, load–displacement re-
sponse and acoustic emission (AE) were recorded in or-
der to examine the failure process of joint specimens. A
two-channel MISTRAS 2001 system (Physical and
Acoustic Co.) was used in the AE measurement. The
employed sensor is a resonant frequency type of
150 kHz (PAC R15I) and has a threshold of 55 dB.
Some specimens were unloaded at different loading lev-
els, and damage behavior was observed by soft X-ray
radiography and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Bearing strength
Fig. 3 shows typical load–displacement curves (P–d
curve) of IM-7/PIXA and IM600/Q133 specimens.
Bearing strength is defined as the bearing load at which
the pin relative displacement is deformed to 4% the pin
diameter (4%d), and the maximum load; i.e., bearing
strength, is expressed as S 4%db ¼ P 4%d =d  t and S Ult
b ¼
P max =d  t. Table 2 provides a summary of the experi-
mental data for bearing strength obtained from all spec-
imens. Note that more data were obtained for the IM-7/
PIXA specimens than for the IM600/Q133 specimens,
because such data include the data for preliminary test-
ing. As shown in the table, as compared with the IM600/
Q133 specimens, the IM-7/PIXA specimens show
Fig. 3. Typical load–displacement curves for IM-7/PIXA and IM600/
Q133 specimens.
 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031 1025

Table 2
Bearing strength obtained in bolted composite joint tests
Specimens 4% d Bearing Ultimate bearing Failure mode
strengths (MPa) strengths (MPa)
IM-7/PIXA
IP-01 727.7 1289.1 Bearing
IP-02 842.4 1326.0 Bearing
IP-03 835.1 1314.2 Bearing
IP-04 906.6 1381.1 Bearing
IP-05 853.5 1357.1 Bearing
Average 835 1326
IM600/Q133
IQ-01 809.67 1486.72 Bearing
IQ-02 825.62 1491.74 Bearing
IQ-03 796.46 1473.45 Bearing
Average 808 1485

Table 3
Comparison in ultimate strength of IM-7/PIXA and IM600/Q133,
tested in compression for various specimens
Ultimate strength (MPa) IM-7/PIXA IM600/Q133
Bearing strengths 1326 1485
Unnotched compressive strengths 552 640
Open hole compressive strengths 332.6 *549.2
Lay-up: [+45/0/
45/90]2s (16ply); * = 32ply.

similar average bearing strength at 4%d, but lower ulti-

mate failure strength.
Table 3 compares experiment results on bearing
strength and compressive strength for two composites
of similar stacking sequence. Compressive strength was
tested by means of a laminate specimen without a hole
and with an open hole. As compared with IM-7/PIXA
composites, IM600/Q133 composites have higher failure
strength in all tests. The cause can be ascribed to the ef-
fect of resin properties and interface bond strength, if
the difference in fiber volume fraction (see Table 1) is
disregarded. Because PIXA resin has lower YoungÕs
modulus (2.84 GPa), which is only about 60% of Epoxy
(Q133) [12], resistance to fiber buckling will be lower
and may lead to a significant reduction in compressive
strength. Also, the failure mode is particularly sensitive
to differences in resin properties. These findings can be
understood from the SEM photograph shown in Section
3.2.3.
3.2. Bearing failure mechanisms
3.2.1. AE measurement
In order to examine internal damage accumulation
during the loading process, damage in the joint speci-
mens was monitored by AE measurement; the results
are shown in Figs. 4–6. Fig. 4 shows the response of
loads and AE counts versus testing time in IM-7/PIXA
and IM600/Q133 specimens. When the applied load was
Fig. 4. Comparison of load response and AE counts vs. time for IM-7/
PIXA and IM600/Q133 specimens.
increased to 2 kN, a noise on the AE signal was ob-
served in IM-7/PIXA, but AE change was gradual in
the case of IM600/Q133. This noise seems to be the ef-
fect of frictional force between the surface of the washer
and the CFRP specimen. Afterwards, the load increased
almost linearly with time. However, when the applied
load approached the Knee point (about 10 kN), a sharp
change in the AE signal record was observed. Simulta-
neously, significant non-linear behavior appeared in
the load–displacement curve. Following this behavior,
load response gradually decreased. Furthermore, as
can be clearly seen from the AE signal, such progressive
behavior appeared stage-by-stage. This finding can be
considered to correspond to fiber micro-buckling, ma-
trix cracking, and delamination, together with out-of-
plane shear cracking.
Fig. 5 shows AE amplitude distributions of each spec-
imen in two higher loading stages. For comparison, the
data of two materials are shown with piling-up plots.
Within load levels of 10–12 and 12–15 kN, AE signals
of low or middle amplitude less than 80 dB were logged
for the case of IM-7/PIXA, whereas high amplitudes
greater than 90 dB dominated in the case of IM600/
Q133. Observations of the SEM photograph shown in
1026 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031
Fig. 5. AE counts vs. amplitudes for two specimens, load range:
(a) 10–12 kN; (b) 12–15 kN.
Section 3.2.3 suggest the following hypothesis: the AE
signals of low or middle amplitude correspond to fiber
micro-buckling or matrix cracking, and the AE signals
Fig. 6. Accumulated AE events for two specimens: IM-7/PIXA and
IM600/Q133.
of high amplitude correspond to delamination or out-
of-plane shear cracking.
In order to compare the damage accumulation pro-
cesses in the two composites, an accumulated AE event
is assumed to be a measure for representing the relative
extent of damage, as shown in Fig. 6. Here, the relative
accumulated AE event of the IM600/Q133 specimen un-
der the maximum load is taken as 100%, and used as the
basis for normalizing the IM-7/PIXA specimen signals.
Variations in the accumulated AE events can be divided
into the following four stages: damage onset, damage
growth, local fracture and structural fracture. In the
damage onset stage, the two specimens provide AE sig-
nals of almost the same level. In the damage growth
stage, total progressive AE events were detected with
similar frequency in the two specimens, and no remark-
able difference could be recognized until the local frac-
ture stage. Because the clamping pressure of the
washer strongly suppresses out-of-plane deformation
in the CFRP specimens, internal damage was accumu-
lated mainly in the manner of in-plane deformation,
and therefore, almost no difference could be detected.
When the applied load increased to the stage of local
fracture, progressive differences were found in the accu-
mulated AE event curves. This finding is essential evi-
dence for the differences in damage mechanisms
estimated from SEM observations presented later. The
IM600/Q133 specimen shows a rather brittle fracture,
whereas the IM-7/PIXA specimen shows a rather ductile
fracture. Therefore, the accumulated AE events led to a
lower value in IM-7/PIXA than in IM600/Q133. At the
final stage, structural fracture, the two composites
showed a difference in accumulated AE events of about
20%.
3.2.2. X-ray radiography
Some of the specimens were unloaded after loading to
the setting levels, and then X-ray photographs were ta-
ken. The load levels were defined as 50%, 60%, 75%
and 100% of the maximum load, and are referred to as
Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, and Stage Ult., respectively.
Fig. 7 shows X-ray radiography results for bearing dam-
age under the above four loading stages. Micro-damage
such as fiber micro-buckling and matrix cracks starts to
occur at Stage 1, prior to reaching the P4%D load; this
agrees well with the early AE signals. These damages
had little effect on the response in the load–displacement
curves. Slight local delamination could also be seen in
IM600/Q133 specimens. Meanwhile, in the IM-7/PIXA
specimens, rather than delamination, matrix cracks of
the equivalent length were observed in 45- or 90-deg
plies. When the load was increased to 60% and 75%
the failure load, the regions of micro-damage became
more extensive around the hole, and significant non-lin-
ear behavior appeared in the load–displacement curve.
Both composites exhibited these trends until final
 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031
fracture; damage extent in the IM600/Q133 specimens is
relatively serious.
3.2.3. SEM photographs
In order to observe the internal damage in detail, some
specimens were cut along the centerline after the X-ray
radiography tests described in the previous section.
SEM micrograph images were taken in the through-
thickness sections of the specimen; the images are shown
in Figs. 8–10, tested at loading levels of 60%, 75%, and
100%, respectively. The features of damage behavior
can be examined well by dividing failure process into
three geometrical regions, as follows: (1) cushing damage
at the contact surface; (2) damage at the region inside the
washer (inside-washer region); (3) damage at the region
outside the washer (outside-washer region).
The main damage phenomenon in region (1) is crush-
ing or surface damage occurring in the contact region
between the bolt and hole. The central photographs in
Figs. 8 and 9 clearly show that the main damage pat-
terns are fiber compressive failures involving fiber mi-
cro-buckling, and delamination induced from these
failures. Especially, this crushing damage is remarkable
on the surface of the specimens (see the left photograph
of Fig. 8(a),1). The reaction force acting on the hole sur-
face could be increased as a result of bending deforma-
tion of the bolt. However, as stated below, the crushing
damage is not considered to be the main failure mode
among the overall bearing failure processes.
The main phenomenon of damage in region (2) is
compressive damage accumulated in the inside-washer
region. Some kink bands in 0-plies can be observed at
Fig. 7. X-ray radiographs of bearing damage, tested at four load levels.
1027
the load level of 60%; i.e., near the Knee points, as
shown in Fig. 8(a) and (b). Since they easily develop into
the surrounding plies, they seem to cause shear cracks
and delaminations in ±45-plies. In this stage of loading,
the fiber kink bands in 0-plies observed in Fig. 8(a) are
serious in IM-7/PIXA, whereas not only the kink band,
but also local delamination appeared in IM600/Q133 as
indicated in Fig. 8(b).
When the load is increased to the first peak point
(75%), distinct through-thickness shear cracks expand,
as shown in Fig. 9(a) and (b). According to the assumed
mechanism for forming through-thickness shear cracks,
the fiber kink bands in 0-plies develop to the surround-
ing ±45-plies and induce shear cracks and delamination.
Subsequently, these damages couple with each other.
The growth of shear cracks in IM-7/PIXA is more
remarkable on the outside surface plies of the laminate
than in internal plies, whereas the damage extent in
IM600/Q133 is more serious in the whole sections than
in IM-7/PIXA. As described previously in Section 3.2.1,
through-thickness shear cracks may correspond to the
AE signal of high amplitude.
The damage occurring in region (3) shows that once
the bearing load exceeds the first peak point where bear-
ing damage in the inside-washer region gradually
reaches the saturation state, large-scale delaminations
and shear cracks begin to be formed in the outside-
washer region (see Fig. 9(a) and (b)). This may corre-
spond with the abrupt decrease in load response shown
in the P–d curve (see Fig. 2, near the first peak point).
Fig. 10 shows the damage states at maximum load.
The damage progress is found to be an intermittently
1028 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031

Fig. 8. SEM photographs of through-thickness bearing damage, tested at 60% of maximum load (note: middle photo is general view, side photos are
close-up views of marked areas).

accumulated process by multiple through-thickness
shear cracks. Such damages are thought to spread rap-
idly around the circular hole if no restraint is provided
for out-of-plane deformation. Comparison of the two
materials shows that large-scale delamination and shear
cracks are observed up to the specimen end in IM600/
Q133.
3.2.4. Description of damage progress
On the basis of the above SEM photograph observa-
tions and other information, Fig. 11 shows a schematic
description of the damage progress patterns in each re-
gion. Features of the process of progressive damage
can be summarized as follows:
(a) Damage occurring on the contact surface between
the bolt and hole is crushing damage. Although,
this surface damage is remarkable, it does not
become a leading phenomenon in the overall pro-
gress of bearing failure.
(b) Damage in the inside-washer region can be charac-
terized by damage accumulation processes such as
fiber kink bands of 0-plies, which induce shear
cracks and delamination in the surrounding ±45-
plies. Since out-of-plane deformation of the lami-
nate is suppressed by clamping pressure provided
by the washers, compressive damage expands
mainly along the in-plane direction in a stage-by-
stage manner.
 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031 1029

Fig. 9. SEM photographs of through-thickness bearing damage, tested at 75% of maximum load.

(c) After the damage in the inside-washer region grad-
ually reaches saturation, damage such as large-
scale delamination occurs under the washer area,
leading to a rapid decrease in joint response.
The present experimental investigations clarify the
very complicated bearing failure processes in the bolted
composite joints, whereas the P–d curve alone does not
give much information. In other words, the slight reduc-
tion in load response appearing in the P–d curve as non-
linear behavior can be explained by only one of the pres-
ent observations for various damage modes, such as the
fiber kink bands of 0-plies, shear cracks, delamination,
or their interactions. Notably, from the present SEM
observation, multiple load reduction points appearing
on the P–d curve can be ascribed to through-thickness
shear cracks occurring and progressing intermittently.
Damage coupling in each ply constitutes the major
1030 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031

Fig. 10. SEM photographs of through-thickness bearing damage, tested at 100% of maximum load.

Crushing
damage
Contact
surface

(a)

Washer -- Washer --

Loss of
washer
support
Fixture --

(b) (c)

Fig. 11. Schematic descriptions of the bearing failure mechanisms: (a) crushing damage; (b) damage within lateral constraint (inside-washer region);
(c) damage without lateral constraint (outside-washer region).

failure modes of the shear cracks. The washer and bolt
clamping forces may play important roles in the growth
of shear cracks. Detailed investigation of this factor re-
mains a subject of future work.
4. Conclusions
ment curve, AE characteristics, and failure mechanism
were examined. Correlations between the damage pat-
tern and its progress were partially described by the
AE signal activities. Furthermore, X-ray radiography
and SEM photographs provided basic explanations of
the bearing failure mechanisms. Thus, the following
are concluded:

In this study, a detailed experimental investigation
was performed to evaluate the bearing strength and
damage behavior of mechanically fastened joints of
two composite systems (IM-7/PIXA and IM600/
Q133). The relationships between the load–displace-
1. Bearing failure occurs by a process of damage accu-
mulation. The accumulation process can be macro-
scopically divided into four stages: damage onset,
damage growth, local fracture and final structural
fracture.
 Y. Xiao, T. Ishikawa / Composites Science and Technology 65 (2005) 1022–1031
2. The kink band in 0- plies and delamination appears
to be the dominant mode in the onset of damage.
Through-thickness shear cracks and the large-scale
delamination are the major cause of final fracture.
3. Toughness exerts remarkable influence on control of
the damage mechanism. The epoxy–matrix-based
laminate is more vulnerable to matrix cracking and
delaminations than is the PIXA–matrix-based
laminate.
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