The present invention relates to a bonded joint and, more particularly, to a tube to bulkhead bonded joint design.
Many technological fields have needs for tubes or canisters to be joined to bulkheads. One such field involves ordinance or missile launching, in which ordinance such as a missile is launched from a launch tube provided as part of a launching system.
A launching system can be disposed as a vertical launching system (VLS) and operates by holding and firing missiles from a platform. This platform may be on a naval ship, such as surface ships and submarines, an air or ground vehicle or may be static. Each VLS platform includes a number of cells, which can hold one or more missiles ready for firing. Typically, each cell can hold a number of different types of missiles, allowing for flexibility for various missions.
The cells are often provided as tubular elements that are supported on a bulkhead. However, the tight tolerances required for achieving good structural bonded joints between tubes and bulkhead openings may cause the paste adhesive to be wiped off the faying surfaces when the tubes are inserted into the bulkhead openings or when bulkheads are inserted onto tubes. In either case, tube geometries can impede the application of pressure at bond lines to assist with bonding and can interfere with non-destructive verification of adhesive in the bond lines.