JoinDT

The JoinDT project focuses on developing an advanced method for damage-tolerant design of bonded and welded joints in fiber-reinforced composite structures for the aerospace industry. The main goal is to establish an innovative approach that integrates pre-damage from impact and fatigue simulations into the strength and failure behavior analysis, enabling virtual determination of residual strength.

The method developed aims to significantly improve the design process for complex adhesive joints by creating design guidelines that can be cost-effectively and time-efficiently validated. The project seeks to achieve a certifiable solution that allows precise prediction and control of crack growth in primary load-bearing paths under fatigue conditions. By applying this method, joints in primary load-bearing structures can be designed with damage tolerance while reducing the need for time-consuming and material-intensive physical tests.

Wölfel plays a crucial role by integrating the methods developed at academic institutions into a commercial FEM environment. This involves addressing the simulation chain of individual modules, their data transfer, and communication with the end user of the simulation process at AIRBUS. The goal is to transfer the methodology into the simulation environments of the involved divisions, which can then be adapted to their specific requirements.