Single Lap Joints with Rounded Adherend Corners: Experimental Results and Strength Prediction

The objective of the present study was to better understand the effect of the change in the geometry of the adherend corners on the stress distribution in single lap joints and, therefore, on the joint strength. Various degrees of rounding were studied and two different types of adhesives were used: one very brittle and another which had a large plastic deformation. Experimental results on the strength of joints with different degrees of rounding are presented. For joints bonded with brittle adhesives, the effect of the rounded adherend corners is larger than that with ductile adhesives. The strength of joints with brittle adhesives with a large radius adherend corner increases by about 40% compared to that with a sharp adherend corner. It is shown that for joints bonded with brittle adhesives, crack propagation occurs for a short period before it grows into catastrophic failure. However, for ductile adhesives, there is large adhesive yielding and small crack propagation before final failure. Another important feature of joints bonded with ductile adhesives is that there may be more than one crack in the adhesive layer before failure. This makes strength predictions more difficult. The second part of the paper presents an approximate method for predicting the strength of joints bonded with brittle and ductile adhesives, with and without adherend corner rounding. The predictions, based on an average value around the singularity, compare well with the experimental results, especially for joints bonded with ductile adhesives.     

An Experimental Study of Fatigue Strength for Adhesively Bonded Tubular Single Lap Joints

In this paper, manufacturing technology of the tubular single lap adhesive joint was studied to obtain reliable and optimal joint quality. In addition, a surface preparation method and a bonding process for the joint were devised. The effect of the adhesive thickness and the adherend roughness on the fatigue strength of the joint was experimentally investigated. From experiments, it has been found that the fatigue strength of the joint increased as the adhesive thickness decreased and the optimal arithmetic surface roughness of the adherends was about 2 μm.     

Investigation of Damage Growth in Single Lap Joints of Composite Laminates

In this paper, growths of different types of failures including adhesion, cohesion and delamination for a single lap joint (SLJ) of composite laminates were investigated using three-dimensional geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis and by adopting a suitable modeling technique. A unique damage modeling method called sub-laminate modeling was employed for the modeling of damages of different failure modes so as to avoid the oscillatory stress and displacement fields around the damage front. The strain energy release rate (SERR) parameter was used for studying the damage growth and the individual and total components of the SERR along the various damage fronts are evaluated using the virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) based on the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach. This study reveals: that the opening mode is the dominant mode of the propagation for the adhesion and delamination damages, while the sliding mode is dominant for the cohesion failure; that the cohesion failure grows at a faster rate than the adhesion failure; and that the delamination front entrapped within the overlap region in the top adherend of the SLJ grows faster when the delamination damages are present simultaneously in both the adherends. This is particularly true when the delamination centers are exactly aligned with the overlap ends of the joint.     

Stress Analysis of Generally Asymmetric Single Lap Adhesively Bonded Joints

An analysis is presented that predicts shear and peel stresses in an adhesively bonded single lap joint having general asymmetric configuration. The single lap joint is under tension loading together with moments induced by geometric eccentricity. Because these eccentricity moments are the key elements of this analysis, a general relationship between the eccentricity moments and simple geometric moments has been determined with the aid of finite element analysis (FEA). Example calculations show that the shear- and peel-stress profiles from the closed-form model are well matched to FEA results except in the small regions near the free ends of the joints, because of the shear lag basis of the model. For asymmetric joints, the model predictions are more accurate for the case of modulus eccentricity than thickness eccentricity. Elastic-limit load predictions accounting for both shear and peel stress in the adhesive have been used to find optimal joint configurations between asymmetric adherends.     

The Effect of Moment and Flexural Rigidity of Adherend on the Strength of Adhesively Bonded Single Lap Joints

In the present study, mechanical properties of different single lap joint configurations derived from adherends with different thicknesses subjected to tensile loading were investigated experimentally and numerically. For this purpose, experimental studies were conducted on two different types of SLJ samples, the first type with identical upper and lower adherend thicknesses and the second with different upper and lower adherend thicknesses. For the first type, five different thickness values were tested. For the second type, the lower adherend thickness was constant while five different upper adherend thickness values were tested. The adhesive was prepared from a two-part paste. After the experimental studies, stress analyses on the SLJs were performed with three-dimensional finite element analysis by considering the geometrical non-linearity and the material non-linearities of the adhesive (DP460) and adherend (AA2024-T3). It was observed that, in single lap joint geometry, variation in the thickness of the adherend and the use of lower and upper adherends with different thickness values changed the stress concentrations at the edges of the overlap regions, affecting the experimental failure load of the joints.     

Single Lap Joints with Rounded Adherend Corners: Stress and Strain Analysis

One of the major difficulties in designing adhesive lap joints is the stress singularity present at the adherend corners at the ends of the overlap. One way to overcome this problem is to assume that the corners have a certain degree of rounding. The objective of the present study was to better understand the effect of the change in the geometry of the adherend corners on the stress distribution and, therefore, on the joint strength. Various degrees of rounding were studied and two different types of adhesives were used, one very brittle and another which could sustain a large plastic deformation. The study gives a detailed stress and strain distribution around the rounded adherends using the finite element method. The major finding is that the stresses or strains in the adhesive layer of a joint with rounded adherend corners are finite. In real joints, adherends generally have small rounded corners. Consequently, the model with small radius corners may be used to represent real adherends.     

Strength Prediction of Adhesively Bonded Single Lap Joints Under Salt Spray Environment Using a Cohesive Zone Model

The aim of this research was to develop an experimental–numerical approach to characterize the effect of salt spray environment on adhesively bonded joints and predict the degradation in joint strength. Experiments were conducted on bulk adhesive specimens and single lap joints (SLJs) under salt spray condition and the corresponding experimental results were reported. The environment degradation factor, Deg, was incorporated into a bilinear cohesive zone model (CZM) to simulate the degradation process of the joints. The degraded CZM parameters, determined from static tests on bulk adhesive, were imported into the CZM using an approximate moisture concentration gradient approach. The reduction in residual strength of SLJ under salt spray environment was successfully predicted through comparing the experimental and numerical results.     

Stress Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Electroprimed Steel Lap Shear Joints

Structural applications for adhesive bonding have been increasing in recent years due to improvements in the types of adhesives available and in improved knowledge of bonding procedures. Consequently, there exists a demand for precise numerical modeling of adhesive joint behavior, particularly along bondline interfaces where low surface energy adhesives contact high surface energy metallic oxides. The purpose of the present study is to determine the effect of electrodeposited organic paint primer (ELPO) on the stress and strain distributions within an adhesively bonded single-lap-shear joint. Initial experimental studies have shown that bonding to ELPO-primed steel adherends has enhanced strength and durability characteristics compared to conventional bonds to unprimed steel surfaces. Recent studies based on finite element analysis of varied single-lap-shear joint moduli and thicknesses, and subsequent testing of joints with two different adhesive moduli, have indicated the mechanisms involved in this phenomenon. The presence of the ELPO-primer reduced peak peel and shear stresses and allowed for more uniform stress distribution throughout the joint.     

Stress Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Electroprimed Steel Lap Shear Joints

Structural applications for adhesive bonding have been increasing in recent years due to improvements in the types of adhesives available and in improved knowledge of bonding procedures. Consequently, there exists a demand for precise numerical modeling of adhesive joint behavior, particularly along bondline interfaces where low surface energy adhesives contact high surface energy metallic oxides. The purpose of the present study is to determine the effect of electrodeposited organic paint primer (ELPO) on the stress and strain distributions within an adhesively bonded single-lap-shear joint. Initial experimental studies have shown that bonding to ELPO-primed steel adherends has enhanced strength and durability characteristics compared to conventional bonds to unprimed steel surfaces. Recent studies based on finite element analysis of varied single-lap-shear joint moduli and thicknesses, and subsequent testing of joints with two different adhesive moduli, have indicated the mechanisms involved in this phenomenon. The presence of the ELPO-primer reduced peak peel and shear stresses and allowed for more uniform stress distribution throughout the joint.     

Effect of Substrate Material on Fatigue Crack Propagation Rate of Adhesively Bonded DCB Joints

The effect of substrate material on the fatigue crack propagation rate was investigated using adhesively bonded DCB specimens with CFRP and aluminum substrates. The experimental results show that the increase in thickness of the adherend lowers the fatigue threshold, ΔG _th, and raises the crack growth parameter, n, irrespective of the substrate material, and that the crack growth parameter, n, for the aluminum joints is less than that for the CFRP joints. To elucidate the fatigue crack propagation behavior, fracture surface observation and finite element analysis have been conducted. Besides, Gurson's model is applied to the adhesive layer. SEM images show that numerous voids are formed in the fracture surface for the joints with aluminum substrate, but the growth of voids is suppressed for the joints with CFRP substrate. FEM results also show that the void area fraction for the joint with aluminum substrate is greater than that with CFRP substrate. Thus, the above experimental and numerical trends of voids correspond to the trends of the fatigue crack propagation behavior.     

Elasto-Plastic Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Symmetric Single Lap Joints Under In-Plane Tension and Edge Moments

An analysis is presented that predicts adhesive shear and peel stresses and strains in an adhesively bonded single lap joint having symmetric configuration with adhesive behavior. The single lap joint is under tension loading together with moments induced by the interactions of the geometric eccentricity and the boundary conditions of the joint. The von Mises yielding criterion is used to relate the adhesive stress components within the yielded region. The adhesive strains are computed from the relative displacements of the adherends and can be considered as an average of the strain variation through the adhesive thickness direction. Example calculations show that the predicted adhesive shear and peel stress and strain profiles are well matched to detailed finite element analysis results. Generally, the analytical model predictions are found to be more accurate when the adhesive thickness is small.     

Elasto-Plastic Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Symmetric Single Lap Joints Under In-Plane Tension and Edge Moments

An analysis is presented that predicts adhesive shear and peel stresses and strains in an adhesively bonded single lap joint having symmetric configuration with adhesive behavior. The single lap joint is under tension loading together with moments induced by the interactions of the geometric eccentricity and the boundary conditions of the joint. The von Mises yielding criterion is used to relate the adhesive stress components within the yielded region. The adhesive strains are computed from the relative displacements of the adherends and can be considered as an average of the strain variation through the adhesive thickness direction. Example calculations show that the predicted adhesive shear and peel stress and strain profiles are well matched to detailed finite element analysis results. Generally, the analytical model predictions are found to be more accurate when the adhesive thickness is small.     

A Comparison of Numerous Lap Joint Theories for Adhesively Bonded Joints

Numerous authors have investigated the state of stress in the adhesive of adhesively bonded joints. They have made various assumptions concerning the behavior of the adhesive and adherends to yield tractable differential equations which remove the stress singularities which occur at the edges of the bi-material interfaces. By examining several test problems, this paper investigates the effect of these assumptions on predicted adhesive stress. It was found that predicted maximum adhesive shear stress is insensitive to underlying assumptions and that maximum adhesive peel stress is relatively unaffected by most assumptions except that neglecting shear deformation of the adherends can affect results by as much as 30%. Peel stresses from the well known theory of Goland and Reissner which neglects shear deformation of the adherends and makes several inconsistent assumptions vary as much as 30% from stresses from a consistent lap joint theory which considers shear deformation of the adherends. However, in most cases the effects of the inconsistencies cancel the effects of neglecting the shear deformation of the adherends and the variation is less than 15%. This paper points out that finite element analyses of bonded joints where one layer of 4 node isoparametric elements are used to model the adhesive give results very close to those from consistent lap joint theories.     

Effect of Curing Pressure on the Strength of Adhesively Bonded Joints

It is important to be able to predict the mechanical response of adhesively bonded joints. To succeed in this, the accurate simulation of the behavior of adhesively bonded joints is an essential requirement because of the strain rate, temperature, and hydrostatic sensitivity of adhesive properties, which should be taken into consideration when developing a material model [1-11 Dean , G. D. and Crocker , L. E. , Comparison of the Measured and Predicted Deformation of an Adhesively Bonded Lap-Joint Specimen, NPL CMMT(A) 293 ( National Physical Laboratory , Teddington , UK , 2000 ). Read , B. E. , Dean , G. D. , and Ferriss , D. H. , An Elastic–Plastic Model for the Non-linear Mechanical Behaviour of Rubber-Toughened Adhesives, NPL CMMT(A) 289 ( National Physical Laboratory , Teddington , UK , 2000 ). Broughton , W. R. , Crocker , L. E. , and Urquhart , J. M. , Strength of Adhesive Joints: A Parametric Study , NPL MATC(A) 27 ( National Physical Laboratory , Teddington , UK , 2000 ). Dean , G. D. , Crocker , L. E. , Read , B. , and Wright , L. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 24 , 295 – 306 ( 2004 ). Adams , R. D. , Coppendale , J. , Mallick , V. , and Al-Hamdan , H. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 12 ( 3 ), 185 – 190 ( 1992 ). Wang , C. H. and Chalkley , P. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 20 ( 2 ), 155 – 164 ( 2000 ). Adams , R. D. , The Mechanics of Bonded Joints Structural Adhesives in Engineering ( ImechE Conference Publications , Suffolk , UK 1986 ). Harris , J. A. and Adams , R. D. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 4 ( 2 ), 65 – 78 ( 1984 ). Crocombe , A. D. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 15 ( 1 ), 21 – 27 ( 1995 ). Zgoul , M. and Crocombe , A. D. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 24 ( 4 ), 355 – 366 ( 2004 ). Adams , R. D. and Harris , J. A. , Int. J. Adhes. Adhes. 7 ( 2 ), 69 – 80 ( 1987 ). ]. On the other hand, the load capabilities of adhesively bonded joints are affected by both applied pressure and temperature during cure. For this reason, in this study, the tensile load capabilities of single lap joints (SLJs) bonded with a flexible adhesive that possesses pressure-sensitive properties were experimentally investigated with respect to the applied pressure during the curing operation, and the experimental results were compared with finite element analysis (FEA) results. Finally, in addition to other parameters, such as the dependence on strain rate and the lack of yield criteria of adhesives, it was seen that the residual thermal stresses that occurred as a result of the applied pressure during the curing process at elevated temperature need to be taken into consideration to accurately simulate the mechanical behavior of adhesively bonded joints.     

Effect of Curing Pressure on the Strength of Adhesively Bonded Joints

It is important to be able to predict the mechanical response of adhesively bonded joints. To succeed in this, the accurate simulation of the behavior of adhesively bonded joints is an essential requirement because of the strain rate, temperature, and hydrostatic sensitivity of adhesive properties, which should be taken into consideration when developing a material model [1-111, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. On the other hand, the load capabilities of adhesively bonded joints are affected by both applied pressure and temperature during cure. For this reason, in this study, the tensile load capabilities of single lap joints (SLJs) bonded with a flexible adhesive that possesses pressure-sensitive properties were experimentally investigated with respect to the applied pressure during the curing operation, and the experimental results were compared with finite element analysis (FEA) results. Finally, in addition to other parameters, such as the dependence on strain rate and the lack of yield criteria of adhesives, it was seen that the residual thermal stresses that occurred as a result of the applied pressure during the curing process at elevated temperature need to be taken into consideration to accurately simulate the mechanical behavior of adhesively bonded joints.     

Photoelastic Determination of Flaw Size and Distribution Effects on Adhesively Bonded Lap Joints

It is well known that the load carrying capacity of adhesively bonded lap joints can be influenced by the presence of flaw-like defects which are often created during its bonding process. To design an effective adhesive joint containing possible bonding defects, adequate knowledge and understanding of the shear stress distribution along the entire lap joint are necessary.

This paper describes an investigation into the effects of internal adhesive flaw size and distribution on the fracture behaviour of adhesively bonded lap joints. Photoelasticity is used to gain a quantitative understanding of the localized shear stress concentrations due to the presence of the internal flaws along the bonding layer. It is observed that a 20% increase in the maximum shear stress may be induced when an isolated central flaw of S. O mm was extended to 37.5 mm representing a flaw size of 75% of the lap length. For the presence of multiple flaws along the bonding line, there is no significant effect of the flaw separation distance on the maximum shear stresses. There is, however, a marked increase in the maximum shear stress up to about 45% when a flaw size is increased from 2.5 mm to 7.5 mm.     

Nonlinear Analysis of theTorque Transmission Capability of Adhesively Bonded Tubular Lap Joints

Calculated torque transmission capability of adhesively bonded tubular lap joints using linear elastic material properties is usually much less than the experimentally-determined one because the majority of the load transfer of the adhesively bonded joints is accomplished by the nonlinear behavior of rubber-toughened epoxy adhesives.

Although the adhesively bonded tubular double lap joint has better torque transmission capability and reliability than the single lap joint, the nonlinear analytic or numerical analysis for the adhesively bonded tubular double lap joint has not been performed because of numerical complications.

An iterative solution that includes the nonlinear shear behavior of the adhesive was derived using the analytic solution. Since the iterative solution can be obtained very quickly due to the simplicity of the algorithm, it is an attractive method of designing adhesively bonded tubular single and double lap joints.     

Improvement in Strength of Adhesively Bonded Single-Lap Joints Using Reinforcements

In order to enhance the strength of adhesively bonded single-lap joints (SLJs), the adhesively bonded SLJs with reinforcements were proposed. Adhesively bonded SLJs of different substrates and with different reinforcements were investigated experimentally and numerically. Scanning electron microscopy was performed on the fracture surfaces of the joints to analyze the failure mechanism. Shear stresses and peeling stresses of the adhesive layer were calculated with finite element analyses (FEA). Results showed that the deformation of the joints decreased with an increase in stiffness at the end of the overlap region. The strength increase in adhesively bonded SLJs with reinforcements was validated by the results from experimental tests and FEA.     

Development of a Failure Model for the Adhesively Bonded Tubular Single Lap Joint

The accurate calculation of the stresses and torque capacities of adhesively bonded joints is not possible without understanding the failure phenomena of the adhesive joints and the nonlinear behavior of the adhesive.

In this paper, an adhesive failure model of the adhesively bonded tubular single lap joint with steel-steel adherends was proposed to predict the torque capacity accurately.

The model incorporated the nonlinear behavior of the adhesive and the different failure modes in which the adhesive failure mode changed from bulk shear failure, via transient failure, to interfacial failure between the adhesive and the adherend, according to the magnitudes of the residual thermally-induced stresses from fabrication.     

Tensile Strength of Joints Bonded With a Nano-particle-Reinforced Adhesive

In order to improve the tensile lap shear strength of adhesively bonded joints, nano-particles were dispersed in the adhesive using a 3-roll mill. The dispersion states of nano-particles in the epoxy adhesive were observed with TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) with respect to the mixing conditions, and the effect of nano-particles on the mechanical properties of the adhesive was measured with respect to dispersion state and weight content of nano-particles. Also the static tensile load capability of the adhesively bonded double lap joints composed of uni-directional glass/epoxy composite and nano-particle-reinforced epoxy adhesive was investigated to assess the effect of nano-particles on the lap shear strength of the joint. From the experimental and FE analysis results, it was found that the nano-particles in the adhesive improved the mechanical properties of the adhesive. Also the increased failure strain and the reduced CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) of the nano-particle-reinforced adhesive improved the lap shear strength of adhesively bonded joints.