Strength prediction of tubular composite adhesive joints under torsion

This paper addresses prediction of the strength of tubular adhesive joints with composite adherends by combining thermal and mechanical analyses. A finite element analysis was used to calculate the residual thermal stresses generated by cooling down from the adhesive cure temperature, and a nonlinear analysis incorporating the nonlinear adhesive behavior was performed to accurately estimate the mechanical stresses in the adhesive. Joint failure was estimated by three failure criteria: interfacial failure, adhesive bulk failure, and adherend failure. The distributions of residual thermal stresses were investigated for various stacking angles. The effect of residual thermal stresses on joint strength was also taken into consideration. The results indicate that the residual thermal stresses, depending on the stacking angle, have a significant influence on the failure mode and strength of adhesive joints when a subsequent mechanical load is applied. Good agreement is also obtained between the predicted joint strength and the available experimental data.     

Effects of ultraviolet radiation and associated elevated temperature on mechanical performance of steel/CFRP double strap joints

Although extensive studies of the bond between steel and CFRP under various environmental exposures have been carried out, the effects of UV have not been examined to date. This knowledge gap is addressed in this paper. Specimens (epoxy adhesive, CFRP laminates and steel/CFRP adhesively-bonded joints) were exposed to UV for various time periods and identical reference specimens were exposed to only thermal environments without UV. It was found that UV exposure does not influence the tensile strength of CFRP composites. The tensile strength of the adhesive reduced by 13.9% while modulus showed a significant increase by 105% after 744 h of exposure. The tensile modulus of adhesive exposed to only thermal environment also increased by 38%, considerably less than that induced by UV exposure. The UV exposure also led to a decrease in joint strength but an increase in stiffness, caused by the temperature effect rather than the UV rays.     

Nonlinear finite element analysis of stress and strain distributions across the adhesive thickness in composite single-lap joints

A geometrically nonlinear, two-dimensional (2D) finite element analysis has been performed to determine the stress and strain distributions across the adhesive bond thickness of composite single-lap joints. The results of simulations for 0.13 and 0.26 mm bond thickness are presented. Using 2-element and 6-element mesh schemes to analyze the thinner bond layer, good agreement is found with the experimental results of Tsai and Morton. Further mesh refinement using a 10-element analysis for the thicker bond has shown that both the tensile peel and shear stresses at the bond free edges change significantly across the adhesive thickness. Both stresses became increasingly higher with distance from the centerline and peak near but not along the adherend–adhesive interface. Moreover, the maximum shear and peel stresses occur near the overlap joint corner ends, suggesting that cohesive crack initiation is most likely to occur at the corners. The dependence of stress and corresponding strain distributions on bond thickness and adhesive elastic modulus are also presented. It is observed that the peak shear and peel stresses increase with the bond thickness and elastic modulus.     

Effect of temperature and superimposed dynamic and static stresses on mechanical properties of epoxy-bonded joints

Adhesive joints are subjected during their service life to different combinations of dynamic and static stresses. While the behaviour of the adhesives in relatively simple states of stress is well characterized, their response to superimposed stresses of different types acting in different directions has scarcely been investigated. In the study presented in this paper, single lap joints made with different formulations of epoxy adhesives were subjected to combined shear creep stresses and torsional oscillations applied simultaneously and along perpendicular axes of the specimen. The main conclusion based on the results of this investigation is that such a simple combination of stresses affects considerably the mechanical behaviour of the joint. A significant increase of the shear strength of the joint was recorded for specimens subjected to superimposed stresses at temperatures lower than the T _g of the adhesive. Application of similar combinations of stresses at temperatures close to or higher than the T _g led to a decrease of the shear strength of the joint. The fracture morphology of the joints made with the investigated epoxy resins was qualitatively correlated with changes induced by the superimposed loading in the T _g of the adhesive. The fatigue fracture surface of adhesives is characterized by striations and furrows, similar to bulk specimens that failed in the same fashion.     

Finite Element Analysis of the Microstructure of AlN–TiN Composites

Finite element modelling (FEM) is performed on AlN–TiN composites. The structure–property relationships are studied for 5 and 10 vol.% TiN composites in view of thermal and thermo‐mechanical properties. Thermal stresses are simulated at various temperatures for the 5 and 10% TiN samples in homogeneous and heterogeneous temperature environments. It is found that compressive stresses are associated with the microstructure and these stresses are largest at the interface of the AlN–TiN phases. In addition, thermal strains are simulated at various temperatures for both the compositions. Thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient are estimated using FEM and compared with other known analytical methods.     

Stereological characterization of crack path transitions in ceramic matrix composites

All ceramic composites involve a mismatch in physical properties the extent of which differs from one composite to another. Mismatch in thermal expansion (Δα) and elastic modulus (ΔE) is known to produce stresses that influence the path of a propagating crack. Thus, the relative effect of thermal and elastic mismatch on the crack path is expected to change with change in stress intensity. We propose that the crack path in ceramic composites should undergo a transition with the crack being strongly influenced by the thermal mismatch stresses at low stress intensity and elastic mismatch stresses at high stress intensities. Thus, a material in use under different applications each with its own loading conditions is expected to exhibit different crack propagation tendencies which may be reflected in the υ-K characteristics of the composite material. In the present work several model composites with different combinations of thermal and elastic mismatch have been considered. Cracks propagating at different sub-critical stress intensities (velocities) were generated by a novel indentation technique. Each indentation was performed at a constant displacement rate and a peak load. A range of displacement rates were used to produce cracks propagating at different velocities. The indentations were made using a Vickers indentor fitted in a universal mechanical testing machine. The crack paths in composites were quantified by stereological technique and the proposed theory was verified.     

Interfacial shear strength estimates of NiTi–Al matrix composites fabricated via ultrasonic additive manufacturing

The purpose of this study is to understand and improve the interfacial shear strength of metal matrix composites fabricated via ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM). NiTi–Al composites can exhibit dramatically lower thermal expansion compared to aluminum, yet blocking stresses developed during thermal cycling have been found to degrade and eventually cause interface failure in these composites. In this study, the strength of the interface was characterized with pullout tests. Since adhered aluminum was consistently observed on all pullout samples, the matrix yielded prior to the interface breaking. Measured pullout loads were utilized as an input to a finite element model for stress and shear lag analysis. The aluminum matrix experiences a calculated peak shear stress near 230 MPa, which is above its ultimate shear strength of 150–200 MPa thus corroborating the experimentally-observed matrix failure. The influence of various fiber surface treatments and consolidation characteristics on bond mechanisms was studied with scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and focused ion beam microscopy.     

Matrix solidification and the resulting residual thermal stresses in composites

The disparate thermal expansion properties of the fibres and matrices in high-performance composites lead to an inevitable build up of residual thermal stresses during fabrication. We first discuss the thermal expansion behaviour of thermoplastic and thermoset polymers that may be used as high-performance composite matrices. The three classes of polymers considered are epoxies, amorphous thermoplastics, and semicrystalline thermoplastics. The relevant thermal expansion data for prediction of the magnitude of the residual stresses in composites is the zero (atmospheric)-pressure thermal expansion data; these data are plotted for a range of thermoplastics and a typical epoxy. Using the technique of photoelasticity, we have measured the magnitude of the residual stresses in unidirectional graphite composites with an amorphous thermoplastic matrix (polysulfone) and with an epoxy matrix (BP907). The temperature dependence of the residual stress build up and the resulting magnitude of the residual stresses correlate well with the thermal and physical properties of the matrix resin.     

Mechanics of discontinuous ceramic tile core sandwich structure: Influence of thermal and interlaminar stresses

The stress states in a discontinuous ceramic tile core sandwich structure due to mechanical and thermal loading are investigated. The influence of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the tile and face sheet layer on the in-plane and interlaminar stresses in the sandwich structure is evaluated. The factors affecting the interlaminar stresses in the structure are of particular interest. The influence of an adhesive layer between the face sheet and core on the effective properties of the sandwich is also discussed. A study is performed to evaluate tailoring of the adhesive properties to reduce interlaminar stresses for increased durability. A parametric study is performed to study how various geometric parameters such as tile and adhesive layer thickness affect the effective properties (e.g. axial modulus and CTE). Failure of the discontinuous core sandwich structure under in-plane tension loading is analyzed. It is observed that thermal property mismatch in the structure can significantly reduce the failure loads for the tile layer. Finally, failure of the sandwich corresponding to various failure modes is discussed.     

Mechanical properties of carbon fibre-reinforced glasses

Carbon fibre-reinforced glasses exhibit very high values of flexural strength but usually a much less controlled fracture behaviour than SiC fibre-reinforced glasses. Some carbon fibre/glass composite combinations show a well controlled fracture, others a brittle fracture behaviour. The former combinations occasionally exhibit an increase in strength after an abrupt breakdown from the maximum strength. No correlation exists between the strength of the composites and the stresses in the glass matrix due to the thermal expansion mismatch between carbon fibres and glasses in contrast to the SiC fibre composites. The reason for that is seen in the structure of the surface and mainly in the anisotropic properties of the fibres, such as the large differences in the Young's moduli and thermal expansion coefficients parallel and perpendicular to the fibre axis. In particular, no radial compressive stress on the fibres can be built up at the fibre/glass interface because the thermal expansion coefficient of the fibres in the radial direction is much larger than that of the glass matrices used. Thus, the mechanism of load transfer from the matrix to the fibres is a complicated one, and cannot easily be predicted as in the case of the isotropic SiC fibres. A possible mechanism is described in order to interpret the experimental results.     

The adhesive behaviour of poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBT)/epoxy composites

A modified scarf joint specimen was developed for characterizing the adhesive behaviour of poly (p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBT) film/epoxy composites. This method subjected samples to varying amounts of normal stress (tensile or compressive) and shear stress. This resulted in the determination of two adhesive strengths; one in the absence of shear stress and one in the absence of normal stress. As a result, the dependence of the adhesive strength on the degree of normal stress was determined. The adhesive behaviour of PBT/epoxy composites was investigated at cure temperatures of 55, 85, 115 and 215°C. Adhesive strengths of 3.5 and 8.2 MPa were measured in the absence of shear and normal stress, respectively, for samples cured at 55° C. A decrease in adhesive strength with increasing cure temperature was attributed to residual cure and thermal stresses. The fracture of these composites was predominantly adhesive, resulting in a clean delamination of the PBT film from the epoxy surface. A modified Tsai-Wu failure criterion is suggested for these composites.     

Effect of thermal residual stress on the crack path in adhesively bonded joints

Mode I fracture behaviour of adhesively bonded double and cantilever beam (DCB) compact tension (CT) joints was studied using a rubber-modified epoxy (Araldite® GY260) as the adhesive. Adherends were prepared from a carbon fibre (CF)/epoxy composite or aluminium alloys. The crack path in the joints was studied based on the sign of the non-singularT-stress ahead of the crack tip by calculating the thermal residual stress in the joints using finite element analysis. The results indicate that the type of adherend materials influence the level of the thermal residual stress in the adhesive layer, which consequently causes different crack paths in the joints, i.e. a uniformly smooth fracture surface in both CT and DCB aluminium joints and a wavy crack growth in the DCB CF/epoxy composite joints. However, the fracture energies of different types of adhesive joints were almost identical to each other for bond thicknesst<0.2 mm, and a somewhat higher fracture resistance was obtained for the CF/epoxy DCB joints with large bond thickness.     

服役低温老化对铝合金-玄武岩纤维增强树脂复合材料粘接接头力学性能的影响及失效预测

为了给铝合金-玄武岩纤维增强树脂(BFRP)复合材料粘接结构在汽车工业中的应用提供参考和指导,加工了铝合金-BFRP复合材料粘接接头。结合汽车服役中的温度区间,选取?10℃和?40℃的低温老化环境,对接头进行0、10、20、30天的老化。对老化后的粘接接头进行准静态拉伸试验和剪切试验,得到不同老化时间下铝合金-BFRP粘接接头的准静态失效强度。结合DSC和FTIR分析低温老化对BFRP复合材料的影响,并对粘接接头的失效断面进行宏观分析和SEM分析。结果表明:在低温老化环境中,胶粘剂与BFRP复合材料的化学性质受低温老化作用影响不大,BFRP中的官能团与玻璃化转变温度(T_g)没有发生明显的变化,接头的失效强度和失效模式主要受胶粘剂与粘接基材的热应力影响。对于拉伸接头,随着低温老化时间的增加,BFRP复合材料纤维与树脂基体间的结合力降低,铝合金-BFRP复合材料接头的失效断面中纤维撕裂的比例逐渐减少,拉伸接头失效强度逐渐下降。老化后剪切接头仍为内聚失效,BFRP复合材料的低温老化对铝合金-BFRP复合材料剪切接头的失效强度几乎没有影响,剪切接头失效强度的下降主要是胶粘剂与粘接基材热膨胀系数不一致引起的热应力的影响。采用二次应力准则公式对?10℃和?40℃低温环境下,拉应力、剪应力值随老化时间的变化规律进行了拟合,在此失效准则的基础上,根据响应面原理,建立接头失效强度随老化时间变化的三维曲面,为粘接技术在车身结构中的工程应用提供参考。      

A hybrid method to assess interface debonding by finite fracture mechanics

Adhesive connections are potentially weak locations in many kinds of engineering structures. Since adhesive joints can be regarded locally as bimaterial notches, the assessment of the hazard of crack nucleation, initiation and propagation in the vicinity of bimaterial notches and the reliability of the junctions is an important problem. An essential requirement in this context is a sufficient criterion for crack nucleation. The present contribution proposes a modified approach based on Leguillon’s hypothesis in order to provide a feasible criterion. A crack at a notch is assumed to be initiated and to grow if and only if both the released energy and the local stresses exceed critical values. Thus, simulating virtual crack growth along an interface of two dissimilar bonded materials, the integrity of the bond is revisable. The approach enables the determination of characteristic lengths for freshly nucleated cracks forming the base for any further integrity assessment. As an example, the concept is applied to the analysis of an adhesive bond of metallic and ceramic materials under severe thermal loading conditions as they occur, among other examples, in high temperature fuel cell technology. It is shown that the failure hazard of the adhesive joint can be reduced significantly by an appropriate local design.     

Thermal and geometrically non-linear stress analyses of an adhesively bonded composite tee joint

Adhesive bonding technique is used successfully for joining the carbon fibre reinforced plastics to metals or composite structures. A good design of adhesive joint with either simple or more complex geometry requires its stress and deformation states to be known for different boundary conditions. In case the adhesive joint is subjected to thermal loads, the thermal and mechanical mismatches of the adhesive and adherends cause thermal stresses. The plate-end conditions may also result in the adhesive joint to undergo large displacements and rotations whereas the adhesive and adherends deform elastically (small strain). In this study, the thermal and geometrically non-linear stress analyses of an adhesively bonded composite tee joint with single support plus an angled reinforcement made of unidirectional CFRPs were carried out using the non-linear finite element method. In the stress analysis, the effects of the large displacements were considered using the small displacement–large displacement theory. The stress states in the plates and the adhesive layer of the tee joint configurations bonded to a rigid base and a composite plate were investigated. An initial uniform temperature distribution was attributed to the adhesive joint for a stress free state, and then variable thermal boundary conditions, i.e. air flows with different velocity and temperature were specified along the outer surfaces of the tee joints. The thermal analysis showed that a non-uniform temperature distribution occurred in the tee joints, and high heat fluxes took place along the free surfaces of the adhesive fillets at the adhesive free ends. Later, the geometrical non-linear thermal-stress analysis of the tee joint was carried out for the final temperature distribution and two edge conditions applied to the edges of the vertical and horizontal plates (HP). High stress concentrations occurred around the rounded adherend corners inside the adhesive fillets at the adhesive free ends, and along the adhesive–composite adherend interfaces due to their thermal–mechanical mismatches. The most critical joint regions were adhesive fillets subjected to high thermal gradients, the middle region of HP, the region of the vertical plate corresponding to the free end of the vertical adhesive layer–left support interface. In addition, the support length had a small effect of reducing the peak stresses at the critical adherend and adhesive locations.     

Wet thermo-mechanical behavior of steel–CFRP joints – An experimental study

The long term durability of CFRP strengthened steel structures is a key parameter for their safe use and effective design. Strengthened members can be subjected to different environmental conditions and loading scenarios during their service life, the effect of which on the failure mechanism of the strengthened member requires fundamental investigations. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the effects of wet thermo-mechanical loading on the bond strength and the failure mode of steel–CFRP single lap joints. A total of thirty four steel–CFRP single lap shear specimens were prepared and exposed to different combinations of wet thermal cycle ranges and sustained loads. The results show that these conditions (wet thermal cycles and sustained loads) have little impact on the bond strength of steel–CFRP lap joint when applied separately. However, when applied simultaneously, the bond strength of the joint is significantly reduced with failure observed at less than 30% of the static strength under temperatures that are well below the glass transition temperature of the adhesive.     

An experimental study of carbon-carbon composite materials

A systematic exploratory development study of the mechanical behaviour of pyrolyzed organic resin matrices reinforced with high performance carbonaceous fibres was performed. Fourteen combinations of fibre and precursor matrices in unidirectional composite form were fabricated and tested. Physical, thermal, and mechanical properties were determined at various process stages. A principal conclusion was that it is the very poor interfacial bond which is typically achieved between fibres and matrix that accounts for the low mechanical properties which are commonly observed. This poor bond was attributed primarily to the mismatch between the transverse thermal expansion coefficient of the graphite fibres and the thermal expansion coefficient of the surrounding matrix. Among the recommendations made is that the carbonization/graphitization conditions be modified to promote better interfacial bonding.Consultant, Philco-Ford Corporation.     

An experimental–numerical investigation of hydrothermal response in adhesively bonded composite structures

Water absorption and thermal response of adhesive composite joints were investigated by measurements and numerical simulations. Water diffusivity, saturation, swelling, and thermal expansion of the constituent materials and the joint were obtained from gravimetric experiments and strain measurements using embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. The mechanical response of these materials at different temperatures and water content was characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis. Thermal loading and water absorption in joint specimens were detected by monitoring the FBG wavelength shift caused by thermal expansion or water swelling. The measured parameters were used in finite element models to simulate the response of the embedded sensor. The good correlation of experimental data and simulations confirmed that the change in FBG wavelength could be accurately related to the thermal load or water absorption process. The suitability of the embedded FBG sensors for monitoring of water uptake in adhesive composite joints was demonstrated.     

Analysis of adhesive bonded composite lap joints with transverse stitching

The effect of transverse stitching on the stresses in the adhesive is investigated using an adhesive sandwich model with nonlinear adhesive properties and a transverse stitching model for adhesive bonded composite single-lap and double-lap joints. Numerical results indicate that, among all stitching parameters, thread pretension and stitch density have significant effect on the peel stresses in the adhesive; increase in the thread pretension and the stitch density leads to a decrease in peel stress in the adhesive, while an increase in other parameters generally results in a negligible reduction in peel stress. The effect of stitching was found to be negligible on the shear stresses in the adhesive. Thus it is concluded that stitching is effective for the joints where peel stresses are critical and ineffective for those where shear stresses are critical.     

Residual Stress Distributions in Glass/Metal‐Joints produced by Ultrasonic Torsion Welding

The development and industrial application of efficient methods to join glass with metals which combine the individual advantages of both material groups are a great technological challenge. One research field of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering is the production of glass/metal joints by means of ultrasound. Industrial applications are for example the sealing of glass vessels, fixtures in the vacuum technique or lens mounts. For this reason an industrial ultrasonic torsion welding system normally used for metal weldings was modified to be suitable for the demands of high sensitive glass/metal‐joints. With the developed welding system helium‐tight joints of glass and metals can be realized. In comparison to the conventional welding techniques [1] for glass like diffusion welding or adhesive bonding, ultrasonic torsion welding is characterized by very short welding times (< 1s) as well as low welding temperatures (< 450°C). Further advantages of this joining technique are the high automation potential and the environmental compatibility. Furthermore this technique can be applied under normal or specific atmospherical conditions. In spite of the low joining temperatures thermal residual stresses occur during the cooling of the joints due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion of the used materials [2]. In the present paper the measurement and calculation of the temperature distribution and the development of thermal residual stresses are described.