Special joints for aluminum extruded profiles: experimental assessment of the mechanical response

Special joint systems are obtained by means of mechanical fasteners located in semi-hollow parts of aluminum extruded shapes. These innovative joint typologies are very competitive with respect to conventional joining solutions thanks to the possibility of easy and rapid execution, optimization of parent material, treatments, and machining reduction. The fields of application of special joints are very wide from building and civil engineering to transportation and aerospace industry. Very little literature is available about the structural response of special joints, whereas main codes for aluminum structures only partially cover this topic and the design is allowed only by means appropriate and expensive experimental tests. For these reasons, the aluminum industry is very interested to enhance the knowledge about the structural behaviour of such joints. In order to overcome this lack of information, an experimental campaign aimed at assessing the structural response of two typologies of special joints, namely, “bolt-channel” and “screw port”, has been carried out at the University “Federico II” of Naples. Different configurations, geometries, and loading conditions have been investigated for a total of 71 tests on joints.