When applying composites such as fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) in product structures, challenges lie in the necessity of conducting many tests to ensure the structural reliability and the consequent prolonged period of time required for development. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has therefore worked on the development of simulation technology to predict the strength with high accuracy, by enabling the complexities of damage in composites to be represented in numerical analysis and simulating the damage progression in sequence. This report focuses on mechanically-fastened joints, the strength of which has been difficult to predict in advance because of their complex loading conditions and various modes of failure. By analyzing how damage was initiated and developed, we assessed/compared the results with those of the structural element test and internal inspection.
