Fatigue characteristics of a co-cured single lap joint subjected to cyclic tensile loads

In this paper, the effect of bond parameters on the fatigue characteristics of a steel-composite co-cured single lap joint under cyclic tensile loads was experimentally investigated. We considered the surface roughness of the steel adherend and the stacking sequence of the composite adherend as bond parameters. A fatigue failure mechanism of the co-cured single lap joint was explained systematically by investigating the surfaces of failed specimens.     

A study on the lap shear strength of a co-cured single lap joint

In this paper, the lap shear strength of a co-cured single lap joint subjected to a tensile load was investigated by experimental analysis. Co-cured joint specimens with several different bonding parameters such as bond length, surface roughness, and stacking sequence of the composite laminate were fabricated and tested. The dependence of the lap shear strength of the co-cured joint on the bonding parameters was investigated from the experimental results. The failure mechanism of the co-cured single lap joint was partially cohesive failure. The lap shear strength of the co-cured single lap joint was significantly affected by the bond length and the stacking sequence of the composite laminate. However, the effect of surface roughness on the lap shear strength of the co-cured single lap joint was not so significant.     

Investigation of the relationship between statistical characteristics of substrate surface roughness and the strength of adhesive joints

The relationship between statistical characteristics of butadiene styrene rubber (BSR) surface roughness and shear strength of adhesive joints has been investigated. The assumption of stationary normal distribution of coordinates of surface points was made to determine the statistical characteristics of surface roughness. The profile length above the selected level l ₁ (u) was introduced as a new surface roughness parameter to characterize adhesive penetration depth. The validity of simulated l ₁ (u) value was verified experimentally. A good correlation between experimental and calculated results was found. A relationship between adhesive penetration depth and the bonding pressure during adhesive joint preparation was also obtained. The dependences among lap shear joint strength, bonding pressure and roughness characteristic l ₁ (u) were determined.     

Thermal characteristics of tubular single lap adhesive joints under axial loads

When an adhesive joint is exposed to high environmental temperature, the tensile load capability of the adhesive joint decreases because both the elastic modulus and failure strength of the adhesive decrease. The thermo-mechanical properties of a structural adhesive can be improved by addition of fillers to the adhesive. In this paper, the elastic modulus and failure strength of adhesives as well as the tensile load capability of tubular single lap adhesive joints were experimentally and theoretically investigated with respect to the volume fraction of filler (alumina) and the environmental temperature. Also the tensile modulus of the filler containing epoxy adhesive was predicted using a new equation which considers filler shape, filler content, and environmental temperature. The tensile load capability of the adhesive joint was predicted by using the effective strain obtained from the finite element analysis and a new failure model, from which the relation between the bond length and the crack length was developed with respect to the volume fraction of filler.     

The effects of overlap length and adherend thickness on the strength of adhesively bonded joints subjected to bending moment

In this work, elasto-plastic stress analysis of a Single Lap Joint (SLJ) subjected to bending moment was investigated using 2D non-linear Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The SLJs, consisting of hardened steel as the adherend bonded by two adhesives, one stiff and one flexible, with very different mechanical behaviors were analyzed. In order to determine the effect of geometrical parameters on the performance of the SLJs, four different adherend thicknesses and overlap lengths for each adhesive were used. For verification of the analysis, the FEA results were compared with experimental results. It was observed that there was a significant effect of adherend thickness on the strength of the joint with both adhesives. However, the load carried by the SLJ with the flexible adhesive increased with increasing overlap length.     

Analysis and evaluation of bondline thickness effects on failure load in adhesively bonded structures

It is well known that adhesive joints have their optimum strength for thin bondline thicknesses (0.1-0.5 mm). The most common analytical methods used for adhesive joint analysis show an improved strength with increasing bondline thickness. This erroneous trend in prediction is investigated in this article. It is found that the through-the-thickness stress distribution in the adhesive is the main cause for the errors. The stresses, both peel and shear, at the interface between the adhesive and the adherend are found to increase, after an initial decrease in the low bondline thickness range, with increasing bondline thickness while the average stresses decrease. This trend explains the trends found in experiments. Further, as experimental results have shown, a theoretical optimum bondline thickness is found.     

An investigation on the initiation and propagation of damaged zones in adhesively bonded lap joints

In this study, the initiation and propagation of damaged zones in the adhesive layer and adherends of adhesively bonded single and double lap joints were investigated considering the geometrical non-linearity and the non-linear material behaviour of the adhesive and adherends. The modified von Mises criteria for adherends and Raghava and Cadell's failure criteria (J. Mater. Sci. 8, 225 (1973) [1]) including the effects of the hydrostatic stress states for the epoxy adhesive were used to determine the damaged adhesive and adherend zones which exceeded the specified ultimate strains. The stiffness of all finite elements corresponding to these zones was reduced so that they could not contribute to the overall stiffness of the adhesive joint. This approach simplifies to observe the initiation and propagation of the damaged zones in both the adhesive layer and adherends. A tensile load caused first the damaged adhesive zones to appear at the right free end of the adhesive-lower adherend interface and at the left free end of the adhesive-upper adherend interface, and then to propagate through the adhesive regions near the adhesive-adherend interfaces (interfacial failure). In the bending test, the damaged zone initiated at the left free end of the adhesive-upper adherend interface in tension, and similarly propagated through the adhesive regions close to the adhesive-adherend interface (interfacial failure). In the double-lap joint subjected to a tensile load, the damaged adhesive zones initiated first at the right free end of the adhesive-middle adherend interface and then propagated through the adhesive region near the adhesive-adherend interface. After the damaged zone reached a specific length it also grew through the adhesive thickness, and the adhesive joint failed. The SEM micrographs of fracture surfaces around the free edges of the overlap region indicated that the failure was interfacial. An additional damaged zone growth was observed in the side adhesive regions due to lateral straining, called the Poisson effect.     

The interrelationships between electronically conductive adhesive formulations,substrate and filler surface properties,and joint performance. Part I: the effects of adhesive thickness

Electronically conductive adhesives (ECAs) have received a great deal of attention for interconnection applications in recent years. Even though ECAs have excellent potential for being efficient and less costly alternative to solder joining in electronic components, they still possess a number of problems with respect to durability and design to meet specific needs. One of the issues that requires understanding is regarding the optimum adhesive thickness (AT) to be used. This study addresses this issue in relation to the formulations of the conductive adhesives and their interactions with adherend surfaces. For this purpose, two different adherends varying in surface characteristics were utilized along with three different conductive adhesive formulations with varying particle loadings, and shapes and sizes of conductive nickel fillers. Joints were also prepared with two different AT values, to gain insight into the influence of AT on the joint strength, deformation and joint conductivity. As the AT was increased, only a small reduction in failure load and ultimate displacement values were observed with unetched adherends. With etched adherends, however, a small increase in joint stretchability was evident with higher adhesive thickness tested at a lower crosshead speed. When the AT was increased, we also noted a corresponding increase in the initial joint resistance.     

Effect of autoclave cure time and bonded surface roughness on the static and fatigue performance of polyurethane film Adhesive Single lap joints

This study investigates the effect of autoclave cure time and bonded surface roughness on the static and fatigue performance of film-adhesive single lap joints. Joint static performance is assessed in terms of its load transfer capacity in a quasi-static tensile-shear test to failure. Effect on fatigue life under a mean and cyclic tensile-shear amplitude is also investigated. Two levels autoclave cure (soak) time and two levels of bond surface roughness are investigated. All other autoclaving process variables are kept constant; namely, the ramp rate of temperature rise/cooling, pressurization/depressurization, as well as the cure temperature and cure pressure levels. Test joints are made of aluminium-aluminium or aluminium-magnesium adherends, joined with a polyurethane film adhesive. The results suggest that: an increase of the surface roughness is beneficial to static strength and detrimental to fatigue strength; an increase of the autoclave soak (cure) time is beneficial both to static and fatigue strength. Test data, failure mode analysis, discussion, observations and conclusions are provided.     

The effects of Al surface treatment,adhesive thickness and microcapsule inclusion on the shear strength of bonded joints

The influences of various Al surface treatments, adhesive thicknesses as well as the incorporation of synthesized microcapsules into epoxy adhesive on the shear strength of adhesive/ Al joints have been investigated using lap-shear tensile tests. First, the influence of adhesive thickness on the shear strength of joints has been presented. Then, the effects of various Al surface treatments on the surface roughness of Al and shear strength of joint have been researched. Atomic force microscopy was used to study the Al surface morphologies and textures. Finally the few micron-sized polymeric microcapsules were synthesized and the shear performances of microcapsule filled epoxy adhesives were inspected. It was observed that the HCl acid based etching increased both micro-roughness and nano-texture of the Al surface and led to the peak shear strength. Moreover, HCl-nitric acid treatment offered the maximum value for the cohesive failure. Capsule inclusions into the adhesive displayed different influences on the joint shear performances depending on the capsule morphology and the surface treatment of Al.