Fastener Pull Through

There will be instances where two composites will be joined together using a mechanical fastener instead of an adhesive. For example, a screw may be drilled on the surface of a composite. However, doing so may damage the surface as well as create small cracks that will prevent the composite from accomplishing its intended tasks through failure. Thus, this section will illustrate an experiment where a fastener is pulled out of a composite material and investigate the different failure modes, as well as the forces required to achieve this. In addition, this section will also provide valuable information on the progress of this project, materials needed (bill of materials), FEA simulation, On site testing, and finally the final report. Below is an image of what a fastener pull through mechanism should look like:

The red arrow signifies the movement of the head, since it is a fastener pull through we expect the head to provide a tensile force onto the bolt. The yellow arrow points towards the bolt, while the black arrow is pointing towards the test fixture needed to perform this experiment. The most important testing equipment is the green machine in the picture which represents the Universal Testing Machine.