Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 26 (12) (2012) 4055~4063

www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x

DOI 10.1007/s12206-012-0909-2

Seawater effect on pin-loaded laminated composites with two parallel holes

Gurbet ren1,*, Mustafa Gr2 and Mustafa zen3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dicle University, 21280, Diyarbakr, Turkey 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Frat University, 23000, Elaz, Turkey 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dokuz Eyll University, 35100, zmir, Turkey (Manuscript Received January 17, 2012; Revised June 21, 2012; Accepted July 27, 2012) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of seawater on the failure mode, first failure load and bearing strength behaviour of the pinned joint of fibreglass-reinforced woven epoxy composite prepregs. The specimens were kept in seawater for 3- and 6-month periods. After each period, their mechanical properties were examined. The edge distance-to-upper hole diameter (E/D), the two hole-tohole centre diameter (K/D), the distance from the upper or the lower edge of the specimen to the centre of the hole-to-hole diameter (M/D), and the width of the specimen-to-hole diameter (W/D) ratios were selected as parameters. Moreover, the finite element models of the specimens were developed using ANSYS software, and the Tsai-Wu criterion was used to obtain the first failure load. The numerical and experimental results were compared and were found to be in good agreement for the first failure load.
Keywords: Prepreg; Environmental degradation; Finite element analysis; Mechanical testing ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Introduction
Composite materials have a wide range of applications because of their high strength-to- weight ratios, strength, stiffness, low density, and long fatigue life and therefore they are used in aerospace, marine and other engineering and industrial applications. As a result, composite-to-composite or composite-to-metal joining is required widely in these industrial applications. Most of these joints are formed by using mechanical fasteners such as pins because of their low cost, simplicity and easy assembly and disassembly. Also, multiple fasteners can be used in many applications. However, mechanical fasteners often cause a reduction of the load capacity of composite structures due to the complicated stress field near the hole area. The stress distribution at the hole border is strongly dependent on several parameters, including material properties, laminate layup, ply orientation, and fit, whether clearance or interference, between the pin and the hole [1]. To utilise the full potential of composite materials as structural elements, the strength and failure of the mechanically fastened joints in composite plates must be understood. Many researchers have studied the strength of mechanically fastened joints in composite structures [1-20]. Several authors examined the effect of geometric parameCorresponding author. Tel.: +90 412 2488403, Fax.: +90 412 2488402 E-mail address: gurbetorcen@dicle.edu.tr Recommended by Associate Editor Kyeongsik Woo KSME & Springer 2012
*

ters on the failure strength, fibre orientation and failure mode of a laminated composite plate with mechanically fastened joints. These parameters have been investigated numerically [1-7, 9-13, 15-20] and experimentally [1, 4, 5, 8-11, 14-20]. The bearing, net tension and shear-out are the main failure modes in the joints. The net tension and shear-out failure modes are catastrophic and can be avoided by increasing the end distance from the hole center (E) and increasing the width of the plate (W) at the structural part for a given thickness. These failure modes are a result of excessive tensile and shear stresses. The bearing mode is a local failure, which cannot be avoided by any modification of the geometry. This mode is progressive and related to compressive failure [14]. Few researchers have studied the effect of seawater on composite materials [21-29]. Huang and Sun [21] experimentally investigated the effect of water immersion on the tensile strength and bending behaviour of composites. The study found that after immersion in water at a temperature of about 30C for various periods of time, the composites experienced significant reduction in tensile strength. Huang [22, 23] investigated the dynamic mechanics and behaviours of fibreglass/unsaturated polyester composites under seawater. The tensile and bending strength of the seawater-treated samples decreased with prolonged treatment time, implying a degradation of the composites. Akta and Uzun [24] experimentally investigated the effect of seawater on the bearing strength behaviour of woven fibreglass composites. The study showed that the failure distance of pin displacement increased with the

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increase in immersion period due to the softening of the specimen. Kootsookos and Mouritz [25] experimentally investigated the effect of seawater immersion on the durability of glass and carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composites. The composites experienced significant moisture absorption and suffered chemical degradation of the resin matrix and fibre/matrix interface region when immersed in seawater for over two years. Aldajah et al. [26] studied the impact of sea and tap water exposure on the mechanical and physical characteristics of symmetric and anti-symmetric fibreglass reinforced polymer composite laminates. The study showed that the symmetric laminates lost a total of 60.00% and 55.00% of their flexure stiffness when exposed to seawater and tap water environments, respectively, for 2000 h, whereas the anti-symmetric samples lost 28.00% and 29.40%, respectively, of their flexure stiffness when exposed to the same environments for 2000 h. Mourad et al. [27] studied the effects of seawater and warm environment on structural properties of glass/epoxy and glass/polyurethane composite materials. The study showed that seawater absorption increased with immersion time and with temperature. However, the tensile strength of the glass/polyurethane composite decreased by 19% after 1 year of exposure to seawater at room temperature and by 31% after 1 year of exposure at 65C. Bian et al. [28] investigated effect of seawater immersion on water absorption and mechanical properties of the glass fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composites. The tensile strength, the flexural strength, and the ILSS of the composite specimens after 42 days immersion had decreased by 13%, 43%, and 50% respectively. zen et al. [29] have investigated experimentally failure loads of fiber glass-epoxy prepregs laminates with two serial holes and analyzed by using finite element method. Tsai-Wu failure criterion was used to predict first failure loads. An experimental investigation was carried out to the effect of preload moments and sea water on the bearing strength of joints. Most mechanical joints have multiple fasteners. Some previous studies [1, 16, 18, 19, 29] focused on the analysis of multiple fasteners. This study aimed to examine the effect of seawater on the failure analysis of two parallel circular holes that are subjected to traction forces by two parallel rigid pins. The behaviour of the pin-loaded composite plates was observed experimentally and numerically with various dimensions. The experimental study included both unimmersed (dry) and immersed specimens.

Fig. 1. Arcan test fixture [20].

the fibreglass was calculated to be 57.00%. The composite plate consists of 8 laminas; this plate was cut by a diamondtipped wheel and drilled with 5 mm diameter holes. 2.2 Material properties The mechanical properties of the laminated composite plates were determined experimentally at room temperatures. The tensile, compression, shear modulus test samples were prepared according to ASTM D 3039-76 [9, 20], ASTM D 3410-75 [9, 20], ASTM D 7078 [30] standards, respectively. All of the mechanical tests were performed using an Instron Tensile Machine. A load was applied to the samples at a constant cross-head speed of 1 mm/min. Each test was repeated three times, and the mean values were used as the test results. A rectangular test specimen was loaded progressively. For all steps, 1 and 2 were measured using an indicator, and the strains E1 and 12 were also calculated. The ultimate tensile stress (Xt) and compression stress (Xc) were calculated by dividing the failure load by the cross-sectional area of the specimen under tensile and compression loading, respectively. For a woven fibreglass-epoxy prepregs composite plate, the strength values in the direction of the loading were equal to the strength values in the transverse direction (E1 = E2, Xt = Yt, and Xc = Yc). The in-plane shear strength and shear modulus were measured using the Arcan test fixture [20] as shown in Fig. 1. The average shear stress S applied through the notched section of the specimen was:

S=

Pmax tw

(1)

2. Materials and methods

2.1 Material preparation The woven fibreglass-epoxy composite prepregs used in this investigation were produced by the Izoreel Composite Isolate Materials Company, Izmir-Turkey. The woven fibreglass-epoxy prepregs were cured for approximately 3 h at 150C under 0.25 MPa. After manufacturing, the plate thickness was measured to be 1.6 mm, and the volume fraction of where Pmax was the failure load, w was the specimen height at notch location and t was the thickness of the specimen. The shear modulus G12 was calculated as:

G12 =
where

12 12

(2)

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Table 1. The mechanical properties of the fibreglass-epoxy prepregs composite plate.

Fig. 2. Geometry of a specimen.

12 =

Pi tw
o o

(3) (4)

12 = 45 45 .

The mechanical properties of the woven fibreglass-epoxy prepregs were obtained experimentally for each period and are shown in Table 1.

3. Experimental study
The experimental study included both unimmersed specimens and specimens immersed in seawater for three- and sixmonth periods. The specimens were analysed in three stages. At each stage, for the first failure loads, the experimental and numerical results were compared. At the first stage, these comparisons were conducted for the dry samples, at the second stage for samples kept in seawater for three months and at the third stage samples kept in seawater for six months. For each period, the mechanical properties, failure modes, first failure loads, and maximum failure loads of the woven fibreglass-epoxy prepregs were analysed. For each type of composite specimen, three tests were performed, and the average bearing strength values were calculated. The specimens were kept and tested at room temperature. 3.1 Description of the problem statement To evaluate the effect of joint geometry, the ratios of edge distance-to-upper hole diameter (E/D), the ratios of distance between the centre of two holes-to-hole diameter (K/D), the ratios of the distance from the upper or the lower edge of the specimen to the centre of hole-to-hole diameter (M/D), and the ratios of the width of the specimen-to-hole diameter (W/D) were systematically varied during the experiments from 2 to 5, 2 to 4, 1 to 2, and 4 to 8, respectively. The geometry of the composite specimen is shown in Fig. 2. The length and width of the specimens are represented by L and W, respectively. L was 95 mm for all of the specimens. t is the thickness of the specimens. D is the diameter of the holes, and it was a constant value of 5 mm in this study. K and M are the distance between the two holes and the distance

Fig. 3. Experimental testing fixture.

from the edge-to the centre of the hole, respectively. E is the distance from the free edge to the centre of the hole. The pins are located at the centre of the holes. The difference between the diameters of the holes and pins (clearance) was too small and was not varied from specimen to specimen. The same experiments were performed for the immersed specimens kept for three- and six-months in seawater to investigate the effect of seawater on bearing strength. The results of these experiments were compared with the results of the dry specimens. A test fixture was designed for all of the experiments (Fig. 3). The load-pin displacement diagrams for all of the specimen configurations were plotted. To find the strength of two parallel pin-loaded specimens, the static bearing strength was defined as:

b =

Pmax Dt

(5)

where P, D and t are the load, pin diameter and the thickness of the laminated composite specimen, respectively. In general, the mechanically fastened joints under the tensile loads failed in three basic modes: the net-tension mode, shear-out mode and bearing mode [1]. The modes are shown

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5. Results and discussion

Each composite specimen was loaded until the occurrence of the last failure. In this study, three types and combinations of main failure modes were observed, including the shear-out, net-tension, and bearing modes (Fig. 4). The loads-versusdisplacement curves were almost linear before the failure. The linear zone ended after reaching the first failure load.
Fig. 4. Three basic failure modes for the pinned-joint configuration [1].

5.1 Seawater effect on mechanical properties of fibreglassepoxy composite prepreg The prepared samples were kept for three and six months in seawater. The mechanical properties of the samples were measured after these periods. The samples were immersed in seawater for three and six months and the dry samples were compared using the measured mechanical values. The results obtained were graphed. According to the results, the E1, Xt, Xc, S12, and G12 values depended on the duration of seawater immersion. The seawater had a degrading effect on the mechanical values (Table 1). The E1 value for the samples immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 5.30% compared with samples immersed in seawater for three months. Moreover, the same E1 value was reduced by 12.36% in comparison with that of the unimmersed samples. The tensile strength of the glass-epoxy composite prepreg samples (Xt) immersed in seawater for six months dropped by 4.65% comparing with that of samples immersed in seawater for three months. Moreover, the same Xt value was reduced by 20.54% in comparison with that of unimmersed samples. The compressive strength of the glass-epoxy composite prepreg samples (Xc) immersed in seawater for six months dropped by 2.04% compared with that of samples immersed in seawater for three months. Moreover, the same Xt value was reduced by 11.52% in comparison with that of the dry samples. Seawater did not have a significant effect on the shear strength, but the value for shear strength (S12) of the samples immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 2.20% compared with that of the samples immersed in seawater for three months. Furthermore, the same S12 value was reduced by 3.26% in comparison with that of the dry samples. The shear modulus of the glass-epoxy composite prepreg samples (G12) immersed in seawater for six months dropped by 23.75% compared with that of the samples immersed in seawater for three months. Moreover, the same G12 value was reduced by 34.86% in comparison with that of the dry samples. The seawater effect on the Poisson value (v12) was weak for the sample immersed in seawater for three months. However, the value for the sample immersed in seawater for six months dropped 12.50% compared with that of the samples immersed in seawater for three months and that of the unimmersed sample. 5.2 Failure modes and failure loads The failure modes of all the specimens are given in Table 2.

Fig. 5. Typical mesh of the composite plate.

Fig. 6. The boundary and loading conditions of the finite element model.

in Fig. 4.

4. Numerical study
The finite element models of all the pinned joints were developed by using the ANSYS 11.0 FE software package. The Tsai-Wu failure criterion was used to obtain the first failure loads of the laminated plates. The SHELL181 element was used in this analysis. This element was suitable for analysing the thin to moderately-thick shell structures. Also, it was a 4node element with six degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the x, y, and z directions, and rotations about the x-, y-, and z-axes. The linear two-dimensional model required some assumptions. The thickness of the plate must be small compared with the plate length and width, and the applied load must be in-plane and symmetric with respect to the midplane. The pin was a perfectly rigid counting with zero clearance. The typical mesh of the plate is shown in Fig. 5. The mesh was divided into two main regions, whose squares were a fine mesh surrounding the pin holes and rectangles with mesh away from the pin holes, and the radial lines at the free- edge side of both holes were fixed to perform the boundary conditions. The loading was applied to the other side of the plate. The geometry, boundary and loading conditions of the finite element model are presented in Fig. 6.

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Table 2. Failure modes of composite specimens.

Fig. 7. The failure modes of the dry specimens.

Fig. 8. The failure modes of specimens kept three months in seawater.

However, in these parameters, the bearing failure mode was observed for the three months seawater samples from time to time for E/D = 3, 4 and 5. The bearing failure mode occurred in W/D = 6, 7, 8; K/D = 2, 3, 4 and M/D = 2 for all specimens at three months in seawater. For the unimmersed specimens and the specimens immersed in seawater for six months, the mixed mode consisting of the bearing and net-tension (B + N) was observed in W/D = 6, K/D = 2, M/D = 2 and E/D = 2, 3. For all the specimens, the bearing failure mode occurred in W/D = 8, K/D = 4, M/D = 2 and E/D = 2, 3, 4, 5. As example; the photos and graphics of the failure mode of the for W/D = 8, K/D = 4, M/D = 2, E/D = 2, 3, 4, 5 are shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. The failure load of the immersed and unimmersed specimens for W/D = 4, K/D = 2, M/D = 1 and E/D = 2-5 are shown in Fig. 10. For E/D = 2, the failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 1.13% compared with that of the specimens immersed in seawater for three months. Moreover, the failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months were reduced by 7.88% in comparison with that of the dry specimens. Because the immersed specimens kept in seawater expanded, the assembly of the expanded specimens in the two holes produced internal stresses in the specimens. The increase in internal stresses may have decreased the failure load. The failure loads of the unimmersed and immersed specimens for W/D = 5, K/D = 3, M/D = 1 and E/D = 2-5 are shown in Fig. 11. For E/D = 2, the failure loads of the speci-

Fig. 9. The failure modes of specimens kept six months in seawater.

W/D=4, K/D=2 a nd M/D=1

3000

Failure Load (N)

2500 237 1 2227 2 197 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2 3 2397 2247 2222

2747 2693 2328

2 825 281 5 268 8

Dr y 3 month s 6 month s

E/D

Fig. 10. The failure loads for W/D = 4, K/D = 2, M/D = 1 the unimmersed and immersed specimens.

mens immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 13.96% compared with those of the specimens immersed in seawater for three months. Moreover, the failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months were reduced by 15.07% in comparison with those of the dry specimens. The failure loads of the unimmersed and immersed specimens for W/D = 6, K/D = 4, M/D = 1, and E/D = 2-5 are

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W/D=5 , K/D=3 and M/D=1

4500 4000

W/D=7, K/D=3 and M/D=2

3924 3826 3512 4000 4179 4002

4078 3960 3551

42 44 3914 3757

Failure Load (N )

3 718 368 2

4052 36 89

3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

4067 3762 3610

3500

3721 3708 3414

Dry

Dry 3571

3 590

Failure Load(N)

323 1

3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

3 months

3 months

6 months

6 months

E/D

3 E/D

Fig. 11. The failure loads for W/D = 5, K/D = 3, M/D = 1 the unimmersed and immersed specimens.

Fig. 14. The failure loads for W/D = 7, K/D = 3, M/D = 2 the unimmersed and immersed specimens.

W/D=6, K/D=4 and M/D=1

300 0

W/D=8, K/D=4 and M/D=2

3500

27 17 2698 2439

2969 2708 2688

297 2 2 796

Failur e Load(N)

Failure Load (N )

224 7 221 7 2139

200 0 150 0 100 0

30 09 28 75 2838

3169 2963 2 899

3198 29 95 2975

3000 2500 2000 1500

329 6 3061 2963

250 0

2 766

Dry

Dry 3 mo nths

3 mon ths

6 mon ths 50 0 0 2 3 4 5

6 mo nths 1000 500 0 2 3 4 5

E/D

E/D

Fig. 12. The failure loads for W/D = 6, K/D = 4, M/D = 1 the unimmersed and immersed specimens.

Fig. 15. The failure loads for W/D = 8, K/D = 4, M/D = 2 the unimmersed and immersed specimens.

W /D=6, K/D=2 a nd M/D=2

4 000 34 78 3 231 2 770

Failur e Load (N )

352 5 33 45 3 129

3 541 3 404

3 500 3 000 2 500 2 000 1 500 1 000 500 0

D ry 3 mont hs 6 mont hs

E/D

Fig. 13. The failure loads for W/D = 6, K/D = 2, M/D = 2 the unimmersed and immersed specimens.

shown in Fig. 12. For E/D = 2, the failure loads for the specimens immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 3.65% compared with those of the specimens immersed in seawater for three months. The failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months were reduced by 5.05% in comparison with those of the dry specimens. The failure loads of the unimmersed and immersed specimens for W/D = 6, K/D = 2, M/D = 2, and E/D = 2-5 are shown in Fig. 13. For E/D = 2, the failure loads for the specimens immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 16.64% compared with those of the specimens immersed in seawater for three months. The failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months were reduced by 25.56%

in comparison with those of the dry specimens. The failure loads of the unimmersed and immersed specimens for W/D = 7, K/D = 3, M/D = 2, and E/D = 2-5 are shown in Fig. 14. For E/D = 2, the failure loads for the specimens immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 8.61% compared with those of the specimens immersed in seawater for three months. The failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months were reduced by 8.99% in comparison with those of the dry specimens. The failure loads of the unimmersed and immersed specimens for W/D = 8, K/D = 4, M/D = 2, and E/D = 2-5 are shown in Fig. 15. For E/D = 2, the failure loads for the specimens immersed in seawater for six months decreased by 1.30% compared with those of the specimens immersed in seawater for three months. The failure loads of the specimens immersed in seawater for six months were reduced by 6.03% in comparison with those of the dry specimens. At the same time, the increase in immersion time in seawater of the specimens led to a reduction in the failure loads for E/D = 3, 4, 5. The experimental and numerical results for the first failure loads are shown in Figs. 16-21. The first failure loads were determined by the finite element method using the Tsai-Wu failure criterion in the numerical study. In the analysis, all of the specimens were assumed to have zero clearance. In practice, however, some clearance error is unavoidable.

352 8 3 463 32 11

32 77

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W /D= 4, K/D =2 a nd M/ D=1

W/D=7, K/D=3 and M/D=2

3500

First Failure Loads (N)

First Failure Loads ( N)

3000

3000 2500 2000 1500

2500

2000

1500 0 1 D ry-Exp. 3 months-Num. 2 E/D 3 Dry-Num. 6 m onths-Exp. 4 5 3 months-Ex p. 6 months-Num. 6

1
Dry-Exp.

E/D

5
3 months-Exp. 6 months-Num.

Dry-Num. 6 months-Exp.

3 months-Num.

Fig. 16. The experimental and FEA results of the first failure loads for W = 20 mm, K = 10 mm and M = 5 mm.

Fig. 20. The experimental and FEA results of the first failure loads for W = 35 mm, K = 15 mm and M = 10 mm.

W/D=8, K/D=4 and M/D=2

3500 First Failure Loads (N) 3000 2500 2000 1500 0 1 2

E/D 3 Dry-Num. 6 months-Exp.

Dry-Exp. 3 months-Num.

3 months-Exp. 6 months-Num.

Fig. 17. The experimental and FEA results of the first failure loads for W = 25 mm, K = 15 mm and M = 5 mm.
W/D=6, K/D=4 and M/D=1
30 00 First Failur e Loads ( N)

Fig. 21. The experimental and FEA results of the first failure loads for W = 40 mm, K = 20 mm and M = 10 mm.

25 00

20 00

15 00 0 1 Dry- Exp . 3 mo nths- N u m. 2 E/D 3 Dry -Num. 6 months -Exp. 4 5 3 month s-Ex p. 6 month s-Num. 6

Fig. 18. The experimental and FEA results of the first failure loads for W = 30 mm, K = 20 mm and M = 5 mm.

W/D=6, K/D=2 and M/D=2

3000
First Failure Loads (N)

2500

2000

1500 0 1 Dry-Exp. 3 months-Num. 2 E/D Dry-Num. 6 m onths-Exp. 3 months-Exp. 3 4 5 6

6 months-Num.

tions (dry, three-months immersed, and six-months immersed). For instance, when the W/D, K/D, and M/D were constant at 8, 4, and 2, respectively, the first failure load increased and the E/D ratio increased, as shown in Fig. 21. In this experimental study, part of the first failure load was 2933.19 N for the initial E/D = 2 ratio, whilst the first failure load was 3011.67 N for E/D = 5 for the dry samples. In addition, for E/D = 2 and E/D = 5, the first failure load values were 2472.12 N and 2884.14 N, respectively, for the samples immersed in seawater for three months. Also, when the immersion time was increased to six months, the first failure loads for E/D = 2 and E/D = 5 were 2393.64 N and 2805.66 N, respectively. Similar results were observed in the numerical study. As a result, the first failure load values for the samples immersed in seawater decreased by the increase in duration of exposure. Also, as the E/D ratio increased, the first failure loads increased, which was also observed in the results for all of the experimental studies. At the same time, the numerical results were in good agreement with the experimental results for the first failure loads.

Fig. 19. The experimental and FEA results of the first failure loads for W = 30 mm, K = 10 mm and M = 10 mm.

6. Conclusions
In this study, the failure modes and the failure loads of woven fibreglass-epoxy prepregs composite plate with two parallel holes were examined using experimental and finite element analysis. The Tsai-Wu failure criterion was used to predict the first failure loads by finite element analysis for the geometrical parameters W/D, K/D, E/D, and M/D. Also, the

In the experimental studies, the effects of the E/D ratio on the failure strength were investigated and shown in Figs. 1621. In each experiment, the W/D, K/D, and M/D ratios were kept constant, and the relationship between the first failure load and the E/D ratio was observed in each of three condi-

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effects of seawater on the failure modes, failure loads, and mechanical properties of the woven glass-epoxy prepregs were determined. An experimental investigation was conducted to examine the effects of seawater on the bearing strength of the joints. The specimens were tested under an unimmersed condition, and the same experiments were applied to specimens under an immersed condition. From the experimental and numerical results, the following points may be concluded: The failure loads observed from the experiments and FEA were similar, and the error rate obtained in the failure loads was less than 10%. Hence, the FEA helped to optimise the joint design and predict the first failure before conducting the experiments, thereby saving cost and time in conducting the tests. The measured mechanical values of the samples immersed in seawater for three and six months were compared with those of the dry samples. According to the results, seawater had a degrading effect on E1, Xt, Xc, S12, and G12. When the M/D ratio was 1, the failure modes were net tension for the specimens that were dry or had been immersed in seawater for six months. However, this situation changed for specimens immersed for three months. When W/D 7, 8, M/D = 2, K/D = 4, and E/D 3, the bearing mode occurred under all three conditions. When the E/D ratios increased, the first failure loads increased as well. The unimmersed specimens had higher failure loads than the immersed specimens. At the same time, increasing the immersion time in the seawater reduced the failure loads. When the numerical and experimental results were compared, the numerical results were in good agreement with the experimental results for the first failure loads.

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Acknowledgment
Financial support for this study was provided by the Division Frat University Scientific Research Projects (FBAP), Frat University, Elaz-TURKEY. The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Prof. Onur Sayman (Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir).

Nomenclature-----------------------------------------------------------------------E1 E2 Xt Xc S12 Pmax G12 t v12 D : Longitudinal modulus : Transverse modulus : Tensile stress : Compression stress : Shear strength : Failure load : Shear modulus : Specimen thickness : Poissons ratio : Pin diameter

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Gurbet ren graduated from Dicle University in 1998. She completed her MSc study in Frat University in 2005 than received her Ph.D degree from the same university in the field of Mechanics in 2011. She has worked at Department of Mechanial Engineering in Dicle University since 2005. Dr. rens research interests are composite materials, mechanics of composite materials, failure analysis, stress analysis, ANSYS.