The introduction of carbon-fibre reinforced plastics in loadbearing automotive structures provides a great potential toreduce vehicle weight and fuel consumption. To enable themanufacture and assembly of composite structural parts,reliable and cost-effective joining technologies must bedeveloped. This thesis addresses several aspects of joining andload introduction in carbon-fibre reinforced plastics based onnon-crimp fabric reinforcement. The bearing strength of carbon fibre/epoxy laminates wasinvestigated considering the effects of bolt-hole clearance.The laminate failure modes and ultimate bearing strength werefound to be significantly dependent upon the laminate stackingsequence, geometry and lateral clamping load. Significantreduction in bearing strength at 4% hole deformation was foundfor both pin-loaded and clamped laminates. The ultimatestrength of the joints was found to be independent of theinitial bolt-hole clearance. The behaviour of hybrid (bolted/bonded) joints wasinvestigated both numerically and experimentally. Athree-dimensional non-linear finite element model was developedto predict the load transfer distribution in the joints. Theeffect of the joint geometry and adhesive material propertieson the load transfer was determined through a parameter study.An experimental investigation was undertaken to determine thestrength, failure mechanisms and fatigue life of hybrid joints.The joints were shown to have greater strength, stiffness andfatigue life in comparison to adhesive bonded joints. However,the benefits were only observed in joint designs which allowedfor load sharing between the adhesive and the bolt. The effect of the environment on the durability of bondedand hybrid joints was investigated. The strength and fatiguelife of the joints was found to decrease significantly withincreased ageing time. Hybrid joints demonstrated increasedfatigue life in comparison to adhesive bonded joints afterageing in a cyclic freeze/thaw environment. The strength and failure mechanisms of composite laminatessubject to localised transverse loading were investigatedconsidering the effect of the specimen size, stacking sequenceand material system. Damage was found to initiate in thelaminates at low load levels, typically 20-30% of the ultimatefailure load. The dominant initial failure mode wasintralaminar shear failure, which occurred in sub-surfaceplies. Two different macromechanical failure modes wereidentified, fastener pull-through failure and global collapseof the laminate. The damage patterns and ultimate failure modewere found to depend upon the laminate stacking sequence andresin system. Finite element analysis was used to analyse thestress distribution within the laminates and predict first-plyfailure. Keywords:Composite, laminate, bearing strength,joining, load introduction, hybrid joint, finite elementanalysis, mechanical testing.

Die Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Thema hybrides Management in sino-österreichischen Joint Ventures in China. Ausgehend von der Überlegung, dass die in Österreich und China etablierten Managementstile und Verhaltensweisen in einem Joint Venture aufeinander treffen, bezieht sich das Kernthema der Arbeit auf die Erforschung und Beschreibung eines hybriden Managementstils. Es werden zunächst unterschiedliche theoretische Konzepte aus den Bereichen Management, Managementstile, Interkulturelles Management und Internationale Joint Ventures vorgestellt, die zu einer umfangreichen Liste von kulturspezifischen Merkmalen des Managementstils und Joint Venture Variablen führen. Als Methodik wurden narrative Interviews verwendet. Insgesamt wurden in 37 sino-österreichischen Joint Ventures 46 qualitative Interviews mit 50 Personen durchgeführt, wodurch 90% der Grundgesamtheit erfasst wurden. Das Ergebnis beinhaltet verschiedene Themenbereiche: das Zustandekommen und die Motive der Joint Venture Gründung, der Verlauf der Kooperation und auftretende Probleme vor und während der Kooperation, die Managementaufgaben der Joint Venture Manager, kulturtypische Merkmale des Managementstils, der hybride Managementstil und seine Ausprägungen und die Erfolgsfaktoren in sino-österreichischen Joint Ventures. (Autorenref.)

<p>The introduction of carbon-fibre reinforced plastics in loadbearing automotive structures provides a great potential toreduce vehicle weight and fuel consumption. To enable themanufacture and assembly of composite structural parts,reliable and cost-effective joining technologies must bedeveloped. This thesis addresses several aspects of joining andload introduction in carbon-fibre reinforced plastics based onnon-crimp fabric reinforcement.</p><p>The bearing strength of carbon fibre/epoxy laminates wasinvestigated considering the effects of bolt-hole clearance.The laminate failure modes and ultimate bearing strength werefound to be significantly dependent upon the laminate stackingsequence, geometry and lateral clamping load. Significantreduction in bearing strength at 4% hole deformation was foundfor both pin-loaded and clamped laminates. The ultimatestrength of the joints was found to be independent of theinitial bolt-hole clearance.</p><p>The behaviour of hybrid (bolted/bonded) joints wasinvestigated both numerically and experimentally. Athree-dimensional non-linear finite element model was developedto predict the load transfer distribution in the joints. Theeffect of the joint geometry and adhesive material propertieson the load transfer was determined through a parameter study.An experimental investigation was undertaken to determine thestrength, failure mechanisms and fatigue life of hybrid joints.The joints were shown to have greater strength, stiffness andfatigue life in comparison to adhesive bonded joints. However,the benefits were only observed in joint designs which allowedfor load sharing between the adhesive and the bolt.</p><p>The effect of the environment on the durability of bondedand hybrid joints was investigated. The strength and fatiguelife of the joints was found to decrease significantly withincreased ageing time. Hybrid joints demonstrated increasedfatigue life in comparison to adhesive bonded joints afterageing in a cyclic freeze/thaw environment.</p><p>The strength and failure mechanisms of composite laminatessubject to localised transverse loading were investigatedconsidering the effect of the specimen size, stacking sequenceand material system. Damage was found to initiate in thelaminates at low load levels, typically 20-30% of the ultimatefailure load. The dominant initial failure mode wasintralaminar shear failure, which occurred in sub-surfaceplies. Two different macromechanical failure modes wereidentified, fastener pull-through failure and global collapseof the laminate. The damage patterns and ultimate failure modewere found to depend upon the laminate stacking sequence andresin system. Finite element analysis was used to analyse thestress distribution within the laminates and predict first-plyfailure.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Composite, laminate, bearing strength,joining, load introduction, hybrid joint, finite elementanalysis, mechanical testing.</p>

This report presents a master thesis project at KTH at the school of Engineering Science. The project is done in collaboration with ABB Robotics, a company who develops industrial robots. A robot consists of several parts and the last structural part is the wrist. During the project, a glued bolt joint, commonly named hybrid joint, in the wrist was investigated. The glued bolt joint mounts a protecting cover to the wrist and is a vital component to prevent leakage and provide structural strength to the wrist. The project's purpose was to create a time efficient and accurate methodology how to model the glue bolt joint in Finite element. Four different modelling methods of the adhesive layer were developed. One method includes friction contact, one method includes glue spring contact, one method includes solid element, and the last method includes cohesive elements. The developed methods were based on the pre-study and a previous master thesis project collaborated with the company. The modelling methods were verified against lab measurement where stresses in the wrist and bolt stresses were measured. Furthermore, to include the bolt preload in the models, a modelling and post-processing method was developed. The results showed similar simulated and measured von Mises stress in the structure of the wrist. However, the simulated bolt stress was significantly higher compared to the measured bolt stress for all methods. The main conclusion with the project is that none of the methods is accurate enough and further verification of the methods needs to be done before an accurate method can be determined. / Denna rapport presenterar ett examensarbete på Skolan för teknikvetenskap på KTH. Projektet är gjort i samarbete med ABB Robotics, ett företag som utvecklar industrirobotar. En robot består av flera delar, vara av den sista delen är handleden. I projektet undersöks ett limmat skruvförband, kommersiellt känd som hybrid förband, i handleden. Det limmande skruvförbandet monterar ett skyddande lock på handleden och är en viktig komponent för att minska risken för läckage och etablera styvhet till konstruktionen. Syftet med projektet var att skapa en tidseffektiv och säker metod hur det limmade skruvförbandet kan modelleras i Finita element. Fyra olika modelleringsmetoder av förbandet togs fram. En metod innefattade friktions kontakt, en metod innefattade en limmad fjäder liknande kontakt, en metod innefattade solida element och den sista metoden innefattade cohesive element. De utvecklade metoderna bygger på förstudier av ämnet samt ett tidigare examensarbete utfört för företaget. Modelleringsmetoder verifierades mot labbmätningar där spänningar i handleden samt spänningar i skruvarna var mätta. Det togs även fram en modellering och post-processering metod för att inkludera förspänningen i skruvarna till modellen. Resultatet visade överensstämmelse mellan de simulerade och uppmätta von Misses spänningar i strukturen av handleden för samtliga metoder. Däremot visade resultaten att den simulerade spänningarna i skruvarna var högre jämfört med de uppmätta spänningarna i skruvarna. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen av projektet var att ingen av de utvecklade metoderna ger tillräcklig säkra resultat och vidare verifikationer av metoderna behövs göras innan en säker metod kan blir utvecklad.