Material characterization of structural adhesives in the lap shear mode

A general method for characterizing structural adhesives in the bonded lap shear mode is proposed. Two approaches — semi-empirical and theoretical — are assessed. The semi-empirical approach includes Ludwik's and Zhurkov's equations to describe, respectively, the failure stresses in the constant strain-rate and constant stress loading modes with the inclusion of temperature effects. The theoretical approach is used to describe adhesive shear stress/strain behaviour by utilizing viscoelastic or non-linear elastic constitutive equations. On the basis of this approach an empirical extension of Crochet's delayed failure equation is proposed to account for the effects of high temperature.     

The behaviour of single lap joints under bending loading

Four-point bend tests were performed on single lap joints with hard steel adherends and a structural epoxy adhesive. The effect of the overlap, the adherend thickness and the adhesive thickness was studied. It was found that the length of the overlap has no significant effect on the strength of the joints. This is because the load transfer is occurring in a very localised area around the edges of the overlap, being the failure governed by peel mechanisms. The thickness of the adherends strongly affects the strength of the joints. The thicker the adherend, the stronger is the joint. The experimental results are compared with a finite element model and reinforce the fact that the failure takes place due to local strains at the ends of the overlap in tension. An analytical model is also given to predict in a simple but effective way the joint strength and its dependence on the adherend thickness.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of single lap bonded joints: Epoxy and castor oil PU-glass fibre composites

ABSTRACT

Currently, there is a growing concern for the environment. Several studies of new materials to reduce environmental impact have been carried out by different research groups, and many companies have replaced parts made of fossil sources by renewable materials. The use of polyurethane (PU) derived from castor oil as a matrix for composite materials and adhesives is one example. Hence, the present work aims to compare the numerical and experimental analyses of castor oil PU and epoxy resin not only as a matrix of composite materials, but also as an adhesive of bonded joints. The joint coupons were manufactured by using castor oil PU-glass fibre and epoxy-glass fibre as adherents, which were bonded by epoxy or castor oil PU. Thus, four combinations of adherents and adhesives were investigated. Specimens with identical geometry were used in all tests, which were based on guidelines for single lap bonded joints. Computational simulations via Finite Element Method were performed for predictions of the adhesive layer stresses and strength. In addition, a material model is proposed to predict the failure of the adhesive layer. The experimental and numerical results showed that PU derived from castor oil has good mechanical performance, making this material a feasible alternative for bonded joints, mostly nowadays when environment is a major concern.     

含镶嵌块单搭接接头应力分布的数值分析

利用有限元方法研究了金属镶嵌对单搭接接头应力分布的影响。结果表明,采用镶嵌块组成混合连接接头,改变了接头的应力流线分布,镶嵌块承载,降低了搭接区中部胶层中的应力;同时使被粘物中部的应力增大,提高了接头搭接区中部的承载能力;在重要部件或承载较大等情况下使用胶接接头,建议采用金属镶嵌方式对接头增强,具有更强的承载能力和可靠性,有重要的实用价值。     

同轴单搭接胶接接头力学性能的研究

利用有限元方法研究了偏轴单搭接胶接接头和同轴单搭接胶接接头的力学性能,结果表明：同轴单搭接胶接接头可以使接头趾部的弯矩为零,进而有效地降低剥离应力的峰值和减轻剪切应力的集中程度,是一种极为合理的胶接接头形式。     

Effect of protrusion at the ends of bondline in single lap joints under tension and bending

In this work, elasto-plastic stress analysis of single lap joints with and without protrusion in adhesive bondline subjected to tension and bending was carried out using 2D non-linear finite element analysis and confirmed experimentally. AA 2024-T3 aluminum adherends were bonded with SBT 9244 film adhesive. The protrusion was obtained by extending the adhesive film by 2?mm from the overlap length at both overlap ends. Three different adherend thicknesses and overlap lengths for each loading and bondline type were used. The joints with and without protrusion, for comparison, were loaded with the same load for each adherend thickness and overlap length. Finally, it was observed that the protrusion reduces the strength in the joint under tension, while the protrusion increases the strength in the joint under bending.     

基于有限元方法的单搭接接头可靠性设计

将概率统计的设计观念引入单搭接粘接接头,通过有限元分析方法分析了对粘接接头力学性能影响较大的因素,并在抽样100次的情况下,分析了单搭接粘接接头失效的概率。结果表明,该模型可以有效地反映接头的实际情况,为粘接结构的可靠度设计提供了依据。     

台阶搭接铝合金接头应力分布的数值分析

用弹塑性有限元法研究了被粘物上台阶高度和长度对铝合金单搭接接头胶层中应力分布的影响。结果表明,被粘物自由端内侧的台阶使搭接区接头端部处的应力峰值显著下降,应力向搭接区中部转移;胶层中应力峰值大体上随着台阶高度的增大而降低,随台阶长度的增大而向中部转移;当台阶高度为0．5mm而台阶长度为4．5mm时,接头上胶层中应力分布较好。     

Strength prediction of bonded single lap joints by non-linear finite element methods

A non-linear finite element technique has been used to predict the mode of failure and failure load of single lap joints made from three aluminium alloys and four epoxy adhesives, and the results compared with those obtained from experiment and closed-form analyses. The finite element program used was able to account for the large displacement rotations that occur in a single lap joint under load, and allowed the effects of elasto-plasticity in both the adhesive and adherends to be modelled. A failure criterion based on the uniaxial tensile properties of the adhesive was used: for two untoughened adhesives a maximum stress criterion was found to be appropriate while for two toughened adhesives a maximum strain criterion was employed.     

Analysis of composite single lap joints using numerical and experimental approach

Adhesives are widely used to execute the assembly of aerospace and automotive structures due to their ability to join dissimilar materials, reduced stress concentration, and improved fatigue resistance. The mechanical behavior of adhesive joints can be studied either using analytical models or by conducting mechanical tests. However, the complexity owing to multiple interfaces, layers with different properties, material and geometric nonlinearity and its three-dimensional nature combine to increase the difficulty in obtaining an overall system of governing equations to predict the joint behavior. On the other hand, experiments are often time consuming and expensive due to a number of parameters involved. Finite element analysis (FEA) is profoundly used in recent years to overcome these limitations. The work presented in this paper involves the finite element modeling and analysis of a composite single lap joint where the adhesive–adherend interface region was modeled using connector elements. The computed stresses were compared with the experimental stresses obtained using digital image correlation technique. The results showed an agreement. Further, the failure load predicted using FEA was found to be closer to the actual failure load obtained by mechanical tests.     

Single and dual adhesive bond strength analysis of single lap joint between dissimilar adherends

The emerging trends for joining of aircraft structural parts made up of different materials are essential for structural optimization. Adhesively bonded joints are widely used in the aircraft structural constructions for joining of the similar and dissimilar materials. The bond strength mainly depends on the type of adhesive and its properties. Dual adhesive bonded single lap joint concept is preferred where there is large difference in properties of the two dissimilar adherends and demanding environmental conditions. In this work, Araldite-2015 ductile and AV138 brittle adhesives have been used separately between the dissimilar adherends such as, CFRP and aluminium adherends. In the dual adhesive case, the ductile adhesive Araldite-2015 has been used at the ends of the overlap because of high shear and peel strength, whereas in the middle of the bonded region the brittle adhesive AV138 has been used at different dimensions. The bond strength and corresponding failure patterns have been evaluated. The Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method has been used to monitor the relative displacements between the dissimilar adherends. Finite element analysis (FEA) has been carried-out using ABAQUS software. The variation of peel and shear stresses along the single and dual adhesive bond length have been captured. Comparison of experimental and numerical studies have been carried-out and the results of numerical values are closely matching with the experimental values. From the studies it is found that, the use of dual adhesive helps in increasing the bond strength.     

Estimation of static strength of adhesively bonded single lap joints with an acrylic adhesive under tensile shear condition based on cohesive zone model

In this study, the tensile shear and bending tests of adhesively bonded single lap joints with the acrylic adhesive was evaluated experimentally and numerically. In the previous paper, the traction-separation laws in mode 1 and mode 2 for an acrylic adhesive were directly obtained from the observation of failure process using Arcan type adhesively bonded specimens: simultaneous measurements of the J-integral and the opening displacements in the directions normal, δ_n and tangential to the adhesive layer, δ_s respectively. The experimental results were compared with numerical simulations conducted in ABAQUS including cohesive damage model. The cohesive laws obtained in the previous paper were simplified to trapezoidal shape from the experimentally obtained ones which were indicated in the previous paper. A good agreement was found between the experimental and numerical results. Then, to investigate the damage evolution in the adhesive layer for some lap joints, microscopic video observation was conducted near the end of the adhesive layer, and the video image have been compared with the contours of damage variable obtained by FEM corresponding to the video images. The observed damage evolution also agrees with the trend of damage variable.     

Shear behaviour of structural silicone adhesively bonded steel-glass orthogonal lap joints

This paper outlines an experimental study on the shear behaviour of structural silicone adhesively bonded steel-glass orthogonal lap joints. In the combination of steel plate and glass panel to form a hybrid structural glazing system, bonded joints with structural silicones can provide certain flexibility which relieves stress peaks at critical points of glass panel. The cohesive failure and its related fracture pattern of test joints with varied geometries of adhesives are examined experimentally. It is shown that the presence of two failure modes as discrete voids and macro cracks is closely related to the adhesive thickness. The effects of geometric parameters of adhesives on the joint shear strength are examined. It is demonstrated that the joint shear strengths are increased with increased individual overlap length, reduced adhesive thickness or increased adhesive width while the shear deformation corresponding to maximum shear force is mostly influenced by adhesive thickness. Mechanical contributions for those effects are analyzed accordingly. Finally, an analytical formula allowing for the equilibrium of strain and force on the adhesive and adherend is proposed for the analysis of shear strength. It is demonstrated that calculated normalized shear force ratios predicted by proposed formula agree well with those from experimental results.     

The effects of partial bonding in load carrying capacity of single lap joints

The effects of the presence and size of gaps in the band single lap joint geometry were studied. Two types of adhesives: a deformable, acrylic tape and epoxy putty were used as model adhesives. When using the epoxy putty, the substrate overlap end conditions were also varied by machining 10° end tapers in some joints. For both adhesive types, the introduction of the gap had a moderate negative effect on the load carrying characteristics of the joint, but joints utilizing the epoxy putty maintained joint strength as the gap size was increased to 9.53 mm (38% gap), while the highly deformable acrylic tape case displayed a constant decline and maintaining constant ultimate shear stress values. We suspect that this variation is due to a combination of the different failure modes of each adhesive and their differing moduli, as well as how these relate to the peeling stresses at the ends of the bond length. In the epoxy putty series, the samples with tapered substrates consistently carried higher loads than those with unmodified substrates. This improvement is a manifestation of the ability of the tapered joint geometry to reduce peeling stresses experienced within the adhesive layer.     

Cyclic creep response of adhesively bonded steel lap joints

The viscoelastic nature of polymeric adhesives means that the effect of fatigue frequency has to be treated cautiously. However, this subject has received limited attention and very few studies can be found. Therefore, this work aims at investigating the cyclic creep response of adhesively bonded steel lap joints. Load-controlled fatigue tests were performed with shear stresses of 9.1, 7.4, and 6.3 MPa, which are typically low cycle fatigue stresses. Only during the last 20% of fatigue life can we observe an increase in the cycle hysteresis area due to the decrease of the shear stiffness caused by the failure mechanisms. Under fatigue load, the maximum/minimum strain curves exhibit a shape being similar to that of the steady creep curves, in which occurs a second stage with nearly constant strain rate, independently of the number of cycles and increasing with the load range. A linear relationship between the log cyclic creep rate and the log of the number of cycles to failure was observed, indicating that fatigue behaviour is strictly related to cyclic creep.     

Non-linear analysis and optimization of adhesively bonded single lap joints between fibre-reinforced plastics and metals

Non-linear finite element methods are applied in the analysis of single lap joints between fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) and metals. The importance of allowing for both geometric and material non-linearities is shown. The optimization of single lap joints is done by modifying the geometry of the joint ends. Different shapes of adhesive fillet, reverse tapering of the adherend, rounded edges and denting are applied in order to increase the joint strength. The influence of the joint-end geometry is shown for different metal adherend/FRP adherend/adhesive combinations. The results of the numerical predictions suggest that with a careful joint-end design the strength of the joints can be increased by 90–150%.     

Failure analysis of adhesively bonded tubular joints of laminated FRP composites subjected to combined internal pressure and torsional loading

Abstract

Finite element analysis has been carried in the present research to study individual and combined effect of internal pressure and torsional loading on stress and failure characteristics in case of an adhesively bonded Tubular Single Lap Joints (TSLJ) made of laminated Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials. Effect of changing torsional load magnitude on an internally pressurised adhesively bonded TSLJ on interlaminar stresses and onset of different joint fracture modes (adhesion and cohesion failures) has also been studied in the present analysis. Three dimensional stress analysis of the adhesively bonded TSLJ has been carried out through suitable ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL) of ANSYS 14.0. Tsai-Wu coupled stress criterion has been used for predicting the onset of joint failures in the TSLJ. It has been observed that stresses (σ_r, σ_θ, σ_z, τ_rz) induced within the joint region under pure internal pressure loading are least affected through introduction of a torsional loading in the TSLJ. However, the stresses (τ_rθ and τ_θz) which are considered to be significant under pure torsional loading get tremendously enhanced due to the varying torsional loading. The interface between the outer tube and adhesive of the TSLJ has been observed to be the most critical bondline interface which is prone to undergo adhesion failure towards the free edges under pure internal loading conditions. However, under pure torsional loading conditions it tends to fracture through adhesion failure towards the clamped edge of the TSLJ. Under combined torsional and internal pressure loading the joint fails towards the clamped edge of the along the critical path which happens to be within the bondline interface, indicating predominance of torsional loading over the pure internal pressure loading. A comparative study based on the magnitude of failure index revealed that torsional loading marginally affects the joint failure as the internal pressure loading improves the compactness of the bonded joint hence improving the resistance of the TSLJ against initiation of joint fractures.     

Stress concentration coefficient in a composite double lap adhesively bonded joint

The main target of this paper is to investigate the effect of peak stress at the extremities of the adhesive layer of a bonded assembly subjected to dynamic shear impact. It is known, that under both static and dynamic loadings such joints endure at their extremities high level of stresses, an aspect known as edge effects. Double lap joint assembly was considered with unidirectional carbon–epoxy substrates and Araldite 2031 adhesive. To quantify this edge effect, a specific coefficient, named coefficient of stress concentration was defined: it is the ratio of the maximum shear stress to the average shear stress. This coefficient helps to calculate maximum strength of the joint since experimentally, only average shear stress could be measured. A numerical analysis at the midplane of the joint was carried out to investigate the effect of geometrical and material parameters on this stress concentration factor. It was found that this factor is constant with the time once the equilibrium is established. Moreover, this stress concentration coefficient decreases with higher Young's modulus of the adherents, lower Young's modulus of the adhesive, thicker and shorter adhesive layer. A unified parameter involving geometrical and mechanical parameters of the specimen was established to quantify this stress concentration factor.     

Impedance analysis for condition monitoring of single lap CNT-epoxy adhesive joint

Multi-Walled Carbon NanoTubes (MWCNT) are ideally suited to be used for damage sensing in fiber reinforced composite materials, and are used for structural health monitoring in adhesive joints. In this work, the capability of MWCNTs for condition monitoring of a single lap Al-Al adhesive joints (SLJ) under shear load is studied using impedance measurements. Different weight percent of MWCNT, i.e. 2.5, 6 and 9 wt.% are added to epoxy adhesive. Epoxy adhesive containing 9 wt.% MWCNT is identified during shear loading to have the highest ultimate strength among the considered specimens and provide the best sensory properties. To provide a more concise evaluation of the damage progression in the adhesive layer under shear stress, artificial defects are inserted into the SLJ specimens. The effects of square and circular defects on the damage progression in the adhesive layer are studied. The results show that primary microcracks are initiated at and consequently develop from the defect boundary in the adhesive joints with larger size of defect. It was found that the shape of the defect does not have a significant effect on the impedance response and sharp resistance changes for specimens with circular and square defect areas of 70% overlap area were about 4.55 and 4.2% respectively. Additionally, when the crack grows entirely through the adhesive layer, a nonzero slope of the resistance change resulted even for low levels of shear displacement.