Increasing The Tensile Strength of Adhesive T-Type Joints with Bio-Inspired 3D Printed Inserts

In the present study, insert materials manufactured with a 3D printer were used to increase the strength of T-type adhesive joints, which have an important area of use in aviation and aerospace applications. Experiments were carried out for 3 different overlap lengths and bending radius. In addition to the unreinforced samples, 4 different insert material designs were used for each overlap length: solid-reinforced model, hollow reinforced model, vertically reinforced model, and horizontally reinforced model. PLA was used as insert material and AL 5754 and 3M DP460 as adherend and adhesive respectively. As a result of the experiments, it was determined that the use of reinforcement material increased the joint strength significantly. It has been determined that the insert model that increases the joint strength the most is the horizontally reinforced model.