Estimation of fastener pull-through resistance of composite laminates based on generalized regression neural network

The fastener pull-through resistance is a key performance index of composite laminates used for engineering application, and increasing research attention is being paid to developing methods for its calculation or estimation. The currently available research methods mainly focus on the standard test and the finite element analysis for determining the pull-through resistance of composite laminates suffering transverse load by the fasteners. Based on the results of the fastener pull-through resistance experiment performed on X850 composite laminates, a model for estimating the maximum affordable load of composite laminates for the fastener pull-through resistance is proposed, using generalized regression neural network technology. The inputs of this model are simplified to six parameters: the proportion of the ±45° layer of the laminates, the number of the layers, the thickness of the laminates, the bolt head shape, whether the bolt has a washer or not, and the nominal diameter of the bolt; the Gauss function is used as the hidden layer function. The model uses a large portion of the experimental data to train for finding the optimal smoothness factor, which is used to reconstruct the model, and simulation is performed with the remainder of the experimental data. The comparison between the estimated results using the model and the experimental results shows that the generalization ability of the proposed model can meet the estimation requirements. Moreover, the pull-through resistance of composite laminates under transverse load from a fastener can be estimated with high accuracy after some standard fastener pull-through resistance tests of the composite laminates.