A hybrid approach for global sensitivity analysis of FRP composite multi-bolt joints

Abstract

This paper presents a hybrid approach for global sensitivity analysis of FRP composite multi-bolt joints. The proposed approach integrates a spring-based analytical model with moment-independent sensitivity analysis. The homogenized properties within the spring-based analytical model are computed by utilizing a novel homogenization technique for FRP composites. The proposed model has been utilized for stochastic sensitivity analysis of a generic double-lap multi-bolt FRP composite joint where, both material and geometric properties are uncertain. The importance of the input parameters with respect to structural responses of the bolted joint has been computed. The proposed approach is found to be highly efficient, even for realistic composite model with significant number of layers. This indicates that the proposed model can be used to save computational time and design effort by identifying the most important design parameters. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd