Experiments and simulations were carried out to study the tensile performance of unreinforced and Z‐pinned composite T‐joints with low Z‐pin density (Z‐pin spacing larger than 5 mm). It was found that the initial load drop of the Z‐pinned specimen was obviously smoother than that of the unpinned specimen, and the improvement to the ultimate strength of the T‐joint was over 45% by Z‐pinning. Besides, the tensile performance of the Z‐pinned T‐joint was significantly related to the distance of the Z‐pin to the symmetry plane of the T‐joint and Z‐pin diameter, while was independent of the column spacing. Regarding the numerical study, the proposed macro T‐joint model was found to be capable of successfully predicting the tensile performance of Z‐pinned and unreinforced T‐joints in terms of both load‐displacement response and damage mode.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.