Progressive damage analysis of tee joints with viscoelastic inserts

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the static structural response of a new type of composite tee joint containing a viscoelastic insert. The introduction of this material has proven benefits in terms of noise and vibration attenuation across the joint. The effects of introducing this new material on the structural response of the joint are numerically examined by using a progressive damage model. Application of this method allows the initiation and progression of failure and ultimate failure load to be predicted. Experimental results show good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the predictive damage model. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.