• Composites Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.40-45
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• 2012

The comparison of the numerical results with those measured by the experiment showed good agreement. The design of composite joint which is the weakest part in the composite structures has become a very important research area since the composite materials are widely used in the aircraft and machine structure. In this paper, the new composite key joints that minimize the fiber discontinuity and strength degradation of adherend were proposed and their failure loads were evaluated. The failure index and damage area method were used for the failure prediction of the composite key joint. From the tests, the failure load of the composite key joint was 93% larger than that of a mechanical joint and the key joint whose slot depth and edge length were 0.88mm and 20mm had the largest failure load. Also, the analytic failure modes by the failure index and damage area were compared with experimental failure modes.