Interference‐Fit Bolt Installation and Damage Evolution of Double‐Double and QUAD Laminates Embedded With Stainless Steel Wire Mesh

ABSTRACT

Double‐Double (DD) laminates offer design flexibility, motivating investigation of their assembly behavior relative to conventional QUAD laminates. This study investigated interference‐fit bolt installation in assemblies comprising two stacked CFRP laminates reinforced with 304 stainless‐steel wire mesh. A full‐factorial experimental program examined interference level, mesh number, carbon‐fiber grade, and lay‐up architecture. Force–displacement measurements and digital microscopy characterized installation resistance and local damage. The installation curves exhibited a four‐stage response with two characteristic peaks associated with sequential engagement of the two laminates. Based on the adopted peak positions, increasing interference from 0.8% to 2.0% increased the equal‐weighted marginal means of the first peak force, second peak force, and mechanical work required to reach F ₂ by 134.1%, 82.3%, and 104.1%, respectively. Interference level dominated installation resistance, whereas the observed DD–QUAD differences varied among the examined conditions. The examined T300 DD section showed less pronounced intralaminate cracking and delamination than QUAD at 300 mesh and 2.0% interference. Increasing mesh number did not consistently reduce visible damage. These findings support evaluating installation loads and work together with local damage when selecting lay‐up architectures and assembly parameters.