Mechanical characterization of steel/CFRP double strap joints at elevated temperatures

This paper examines the mechanical performance of steel/CFRP adhesively-bonded double strap joints at elevated temperatures around the glass transition temperature (T_g, 42 °C) of the adhesive. A series of joints with different bond lengths were tested to failure at temperatures between 20 °C and 60 °C. It was found that the joint failure mode changed from adherend failure to debonding failure as the temperature approached T_g. In addition, the ultimate load and joint stiffness decreased significantly at temperatures near to and greater than T_g, while the effective bond length increased with temperature. Based on the ultimate load prediction model developed by Hart-Smith for double lap joints and kinetic modelling of the mechanical degradation of the adhesive, a mechanism-based model is proposed to describe the change of effective bond length, stiffness and strength degradation for steel/CFRP double strap joints at elevated temperatures. The modelling results were validated by the corresponding experimental measurements.     

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.     

Evaluation of fatigue strength of adhesively bonded single and single step double lap joints based on stress singularity parameters

Most adhesively bonded joints have stress singularity points at the corners of the adhesive/adherend interface. Recently, stress singularity parameters, i.e. the intensity of stress singularity, K, and the order of stress singularity, λ, have been used to evaluate the strength of adhesively bonded joints. However, in many cases, stress singularity fields of adhesive joints cannot be formulated strictly by using constant values of K and λ. To apply these parameters to evaluate the strength of an adhesive joint, it is necessary to determine a key stress component and characteristic range for calculating the apparent singularity parameters K_app and λ_app. In this study, the endurance limits of adhesively bonded single lap, cracked single lap and single step double lap joints are evaluated using the stress singularity parameters. The results indicate that fatigue failure criterion for these joints can be obtained by using the apparent singularity parameters K_app and λ_app which are calculated by the least square method for the maximum principal stress distributions in the range from 0.05 to 0.5 mm from the singularity point.     

基于循环载荷的单搭胶接接头残余强度分析

为研究循环载荷下单搭胶接接头的残余强度及失效机理,以5052铝合金单搭胶接接头为研究对象,先后对其进行静强度测试、疲劳强度测试和残余强度测试,引入威布尔分布对试验数据进行分析,检验其有效性,并采用超声扫描显微镜和扫描电子显微镜对失效胶层进行失效机理分析。结果表明,在疲劳循环载荷作用下,接头刚度基本稳定,而残余强度随着疲劳循环载荷周次的增加,呈现出先增大后减小的变化趋势;疲劳裂纹从接头搭接端部的界面端点处开始萌生,并快速向中间扩展,当疲劳循环达到一定次数时,胶层瞬间断裂,裂纹萌生阶段几乎占据了其全部疲劳寿命,失效后的胶层会出现"凹台"状微观结构。     

Time-dependent behaviour of steel/CFRP double strap joints subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loading

Degradation of structural adhesives at elevated temperatures makes the time-dependent behaviour of adhesively-bonded steel/CFRP joints a critical issue for safety considerations of CFRP strengthened steel structures. This paper reports the examination of specimens at different load levels (i.e. 80%, 50%, and 20% of their ultimate load measured at room temperature) and constant temperatures from 35 °C to 50 °C (i.e. temperatures below and above the glass transition temperature T_g, 42 °C of the adhesive). Furthermore, a scenario of cyclic thermal loading between 20 °C and 50 °C was included to represent more realistic exposure. Joint time-dependent behaviour was demonstrated by the stiffness and strength degradation as a function of not only temperature but also time. At the same temperature level close to or above T_g, a higher load level corresponded to a shorter time-to-failure. In addition, up to 47% of strength recovery was found for the specimens subjected to cyclic temperatures compared with those under constant 50 °C which failed at the same load level. Based on the proposed temperature and time-dependent material property models, the time-dependent failure time of steel/CFRP double strap joints was well described and validated by the experimental results.     

Adherend thickness influence on fatigue behavior and fatigue failure prediction of adhesively bonded joints

The effect of the adherend thickness, h, on mode-I fatigue behavior of a toughened epoxy adhesive system was examined in terms of the substrate global stiffness and curing residual stress. It was found that a change in adherend thickness from 1.6 mm to 12.7 mm caused a reduction in the fatigue performance; i.e. the threshold energy release rate decreased and the crack growth rate increased for a given applied energy release rate. Finite element modeling showed that the fatigue results could be explained in terms of an increase in the crack tip stresses and an enlarged plastic zone due to the greater global stiffness of thicker joints. No difference in fatigue behavior was observed for mixed-mode loading at relatively small phase angles; however, it is expected that at higher phase angles the adverse effect of h would be observed.     

The effects of test temperature and humidity on the mixed-mode fatigue behavior of a toughened adhesive aluminum joint

The effects of test environment humidity and temperature on the fatigue threshold and crack growth behavior of P2-etched and commercial coil-coated (CC) aluminum adhesive joints were studied under mixed-mode loading using aluminum asymmetric double cantilever beam (ADCB) specimens. Under dry conditions, increasing the temperature to 80 °C had an insignificant effect on the fatigue threshold, but caused an increase in the crack growth rates. At 40 °C, the fatigue behavior was insensitive to moisture at higher crack growth rates, but became sensitive to moisture level in the test environment as crack growth rates slowed to the threshold. The effect of moisture and temperature were explained by the observed changes in the crack path, which in general moved progressively closer to the more highly-strained adherend as the applied strain energy release rate, and consequently the crack growth rate, decreased. Furthermore, the residual adhesive thickness on the more highly-strained adherend, t_r, increased with increasing temperature, and the crack path shifted to the hydrated aluminum oxide interface when the test environment was saturated with moisture. The degrading effect of a hot-wet environment was similar for both P2-etch and CC pretreatments. At higher crack growth rates, the joint fatigue performance was degraded solely due to the effect of the increased temperature, whereas at low crack growth rates, the fatigue performance was degraded predominantly because of elevated moisture.     

Influence of the interface ply orientation on the fatigue behaviour of bonded joints in composite materials

The paper deals with the study of the fatigue behaviour of bonded joints in composite materials. The influence of the orientation of the composite layer at the adhesive–adherend interface is investigated on single lap joints prepared by carbon fabric/epoxy laminates bonded together with a two-part epoxy adhesive. Different laminate lay-ups ([45/0₂]_s and [45₂/0]_s), overlap lengths (20 and 40 mm) and corner geometry of bonded area (square edge and fillet, respectively) were investigated under tension–tension fatigue. Particular attention was devoted to the analysis of the fatigue damage evolution to identify initiation and subsequent growth of cracks. A previous model developed by the authors, for the prediction of the fatigue life of bonded joints as the sum of an initiation and propagation phase, was successfully applied to summarise the new data.     

Damage mechanisms in composite bonded joints under fatigue loading

In the present paper, the fatigue damage mechanisms in composite bonded joints are analysed and discussed, with particular emphasis on the influence of layer orientation at the adhesive–adherend interface, corner geometry at the end of the overlap area and the stacking sequence. Results indicate that the corner geometry at the end of the bonded area as well as the length of the overlap have a significant influence on the fatigue strength of the joints, while the layer orientation at the adhesive/adherend interface was seen to have a lesser influence on the fatigue performance. The evolution of fatigue damage, consisting in its essential features of crack initiation followed by propagation up to a critical length, is investigated by means of optical and scanning electron microscopy and by monitoring the stiffness of the tested joints. As a result, it is seen that a 45° oriented layer at the adhesive-interface makes crack paths much more complicated with respect to 0° oriented interface joints, with an increase in the crack propagation resistance. Moreover, measurements of the evolution of axial stiffness are promising in order to develop a simplified technique to assess the crack propagation during fatigue life.     

Fatigue de-bond growth in adhesively bonded single lap joints

The fatigue de-bond growth studies have been conducted on adhesively bonded lap joint specimens between aluminium and aluminium with Redux-319A adhesive with a pre-defined crack of 3 mm at the bond end. The correlations between fracture parameters and the de-bond growth data are established using both numerical and experimental techniques. In the numerical method, geometrically non-linear finite element analyses were carried out on adhesively bonded joint specimen for various de-bond lengths measured from the lap end along the mid-bond line of the adhesive. The finite element results were post processed to estimate the SERR components G _I and G _II using the Modified Virtual Crack Closure Integral (MVCCI) procedure. In experimental work, specimens were fabricated and fatigue de-bond growth tests were conducted at a stress ratio R = − 1. The results obtained from both numerical analyses and testing have been used to generate de-bond growth curve and establish de-bond growth law in the Paris regime for such joints. The de-bond growth rate is primarily function of mode-I SERR component G _I since the rate of growth in shear mode is relatively small. The value of Paris exponent m is found to be 6.55. The high value of de-bond growth exponent in Paris regime is expected, since the adhesive is less ductile than conventional metallic materials. This study is important for estimating the life of adhesively bonded joints under both constant and variable amplitude fatigue loads.     

Effect of cold expansion on the fatigue life of Al 2024-T3 in double shear lap joints: Experimental and numerical investigations

In this paper the effect of cold expansion on fatigue life improvement of aluminum alloy 2024-T3 plates used in double shear lap joints is investigated experimentally by conducting fatigue tests and numerically by implementing finite element simulations. In the experimental part, fatigue tests were carried out on the plates with cold expansion levels of 0%, 1.5% and 4.7% which were used in double shear lap joints. In the numerical study, three-dimensional finite element models were employed to predict stress distributions in the cold expanded plates used in the double shear lap joint. The results obtained from finite element simulation, have been employed to explain the trends which were observed in the experimentally attained S–N data and the fatigue crack initiation location. The experimental and numerical results showed that cold expansion improves fatigue life at low load levels and the life enhancement is more for the bigger cold expansion size. However, the fatigue life improvement is smaller in double shear lap joints compared to a single cold expanded plate.     

Fatigue crack propagation in Ti3 Al based alloys

Abstract

Effects of microstructure, stress ratio, and environment on the fatigue crack growth resistance of Ti–23Al–9Nb–2Mo–1Zr–1·2Si and Ti–23Al–11Nb–0·9Si (at.-%) Ti₃ Al based alloys have been studied at room and elevated temperatures. Only modest effects of microstructure on fatigue crack growth resistance have been obtained at room temperature, and these tend to reduce further at the elevated temperatures of 600 and 700°C both in air and in vacuum. At room temperature the fatigue crack growth resistance of Ti₃ Al based alloys is controlled primarily by the thickness of the retained βphase rather than by its volume fraction and the microstructure with a larger average thickness of retained β laths shows improved fatigue crack growth resistance. However, in some microstructures, the spatial distribution of the β phase can also be deduced to be important. A marked difference on crack growth resistance is obtained for stress ratios of 0·1 and 0·5 both at room temperature and at a temperature of 600°C. The mechanisms of fatigue crack growth in air and vacuum are discussed.     

Fracture criterion for kinking cracks in a tri-material adhesively bonded joint under mixed mode loading

The fracture behavior of a composite/adhesive/steel bonded joint was investigated by using double cantilever beam specimens. A starter crack is embedded at the steel/adhesive interface by inserting Teflon tape. The composite adherend is a random carbon fiber reinforced vinyl ester resin composite while the other adherend is cold rolled steel. The adhesive is a one-part epoxy that is heat cured. The Fernlund-Spelt mixed mode loading fixture was employed to generate five different mode mixities. Due to the dissimilar adherends, crack turning into the adhesive (or crack kinking) associated with joint failure, was observed. The bulk fracture toughness of the adhesive was measured separately by using standard compact tension specimens. The strain energy release rates for kinking cracks at the critical loads were calculated by a commercial finite element analysis software ABAQUS in conjunction with the virtual crack closure technique. Two fracture criteria related to strain energy release rates were examined. These are (1) maximum energy release rate criterion (G_max) and, (2) mode I facture criterion (G_II = 0). They are shown to be equivalent in this study. That is, crack kinking takes place at the angle close to maximum G or G_I (also minimum G_II, with a value that is approximately zero). The average value of G_IC obtained from bulk adhesive tests using compact tension specimens is shown to be an accurate indicator of the mode I fracture toughness of the kinking cracks within the adhesive layer. It is concluded that the crack in tri-material adhesively bonded joint tends to initiate into the adhesive along a path that promotes failure in pure mode I, locally.     

Analysis of singular regions in bonded joints

Singular regions in bonded joints with geometric and material stress singularities are studied by expressing the displacement and stress fields in the neighborhood of the singularity by means of eigenfunction expansions which are in terms of unknown coefficients. These coefficients are found by matching displacements with those from a finite element analysis at points remote from the singularity. Expressions for the eigenfunction expansions are given explicitly for bonded joints with and without fillets (closed and open wedges). The results are not limited to stress intensity factors at the point of singularity, but can include stress values at any point near the singularity. It was found that two singular terms exist in all cases, and that, for joints with adhesive fillets and E ₁/E ₂>7, failure is governed by the term associated with the second lowest eigenvalue, while the lowest eigenvalue controls the failure of joints without fillets. It was also found that the calculation of stresses using only the singular terms provided a good approximation to the actual stresses over a distance of about one-fifth the adhesive thickness. The method was also used in conjunction with the Erdogan–Sih maximum stress failure criterion to determine the initial angle of crack propagation for bonded joints with and without fillets. This revealed that the direction of the maximum principal stress in the adhesive, which is also the direction of crack propagation, for joints with fillets remains essentially constant beyond a very small region near the point of singularity, while for joints without fillets crack propagation always occurs in a direction parallel to the adhesive/adherend interface.     

Application of two‐state M‐integral for analysis of adhesive lap joints

With the aid of the two‐state M‐integral and finite element analysis, the asymptotic solution in terms of the complete eigenfunction expansion is obtained for adhesive lap joints. The notch stress intensity is introduced to characterize the singular stress field near the notch vertex of adhesive lap joints. The proposed scheme enables us to extract the intensity of each eigenfunction term from the far field data without resort to special singular elements at the vertex. It turns out that a weak stress singularity is not negligible around the vertex when it exists in addition to the major singularity. For a thin adhesive layer, there exist two asymptotic solutions: one is the inner solution approaching the eigenfunction solution for the vertex at which the adherend meets with the adhesive and the other is intermediate solution represented by the eigenfunction series that would be obtained in the absence of the adhesive layer. An appropriate guideline for choosing the geometric parameters in designing the adhesive lap joints, particularly the overlap length or the size of the adhesive zone, is suggested from the viewpoint of minimizing the notch stress intensity. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cleavage to quasicleavage fracture transition in steels

Abstract

The cleavage behaviour of plain carbon steels containing from 0· 2 to 0·8%C has been investigated. It is observed that each steel displays two characteristic temperatures at which a transition in the mode of fracture occurs. These are the transition temperatures for cleavage T_c and for general yielding T_g. At temperatures below T_c, the steels fail by pure cleavage. This involves the generation of a cleavage crack nucleus in a carbide particle followed by cleavage crack propagation. The cleavage fracture stress σ _f is independent of temperature. Between temperatures T_c and T_g, the steels fail by quasicleavage. This involves the generation of a crack nucleus by a localised fibrous process followed by cleavage crack propagation. The crack nucleation stage is shear stress controlled and therefore the quasicleavage fracture stress σ_q increases with decreasing test temperature. Above temperature T_g, failure occurs at or after general yielding.

MST/1045     

Fatigue behaviour of tensile steel/CFRP joints

In this paper the fatigue performance of tensile steel/CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer) double shear lap joints is discussed. Joints were realized with two steel plates and two CFRP strips bonded using epoxy adhesive. Fatigue tests were performed on 16 specimens under constant stress range loading cycles. Two stress ratios (R = 0.1 and R = 0.4) were considered to investigate their influence on the fatigue lifetime. Debonding was observed to occur at stress concentration zones and propagate along the CFRP/adhesive interfaces. The stiffness degradation of the steel joint due to progressive debonding of the adhesive represents an index for the subsequent and progressive global failure. S–N curves are defined and compared to the fatigue resistance of welded detail categories of the Eurocode 3. The tests showed that the stress ratio, R, has a marginal influence on the fatigue lifetime of the steel/CFRP double shear lap joints. Finally, a fatigue limit corresponding to a stress range in the steel plate equal to 75 MPa was conservatively estimated during the tests. The fatigue limit seems to be insensitive to the stress ratio R.     

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.     

Composite-to-metal tubular lap joints: strength and fatigue resistance

The axial strength and fatigue resistance of thick-walled, adhesively bonded E-glass composite-to-aluminum tubular lap joints have been measured for tensile and compressive loadings. The joint specimen bonds a 63 mm OD aluminium tube within each end of a 300 mm long, 6 mm thick E-glass/epoxy tube. Untapered, 12.5 mm thick aluminium adherends were used in all but four of the joint specimens. The aluminum adherends in the remaining four specimens were tapered to a thickness of 1 mm at the inner bond end (the bond end where the aluminum adherend terminates). For all loadings, joint failure initiates at the inner bond end as a crack grows in the adhesive adjacent to the interface. Test results for a tension-tension fatigue loading indicate that fatigue can severely degrade joint performance. Interestingly, measured tensile strength and fatigue resistance for joints with untapered adherends is substantially greater than compressive strength and fatigue resistance.The joint specimen has been analyzed in two different ways: one approach models the adhesive as an uncracked, elastic-perfectly plastic material, while the other approach uses a linear elastic fracture mechanics methodology. Results for the uncracked, elastic-plastic adhesive model indicate that observed bond failure occurs in the region of highest calculated stresses, extensive bond yielding occurs at load levels well below that required to fail the joint, and a tensile peel stress is generated by a compressive joint loading when the aluminum adherends are untapered. This latter result is consistent with the observed joint tensile-compressive strength differential. Results of the linear elastic fracture mechanics analysis of a joint with untapered aluminum adherends are also consistent with the observed differential strength effect since a mode I crack loading is predicted for a compressive joint loading. Calculations and a limited number of tests suggest that it may be possible to selectively control the differential strength effect by tapering the aluminum adherends. The effect of adherend material and thickness on fracture mechanics parameters is also investigated. The paper concludes by examining the applicability of linear elastic fracture mechanics to the joints tested.     

Experimental and numerical study of fatigue crack growth of aluminum alloy 2024-T3 single lap simple bolted and hybrid (adhesive/bolted) joints

In this paper, the effects of tightening torque (clamping force) on the fatigue crack growth rate and stress intensity factors in cracked single lap simple bolted and hybrid (adhesive/bolted) joints have been studied experimentally and numerically. To do so, series of fatigue crack growth tests for two different amounts of tightening torque in Aluminum alloy 2024-T3 pre-cracked joints have been carried out to record the fatigue crack growth and also the fatigue life of specimens. In the numerical part, finite element method was employed to obtain the stress intensity factors and also the effective stress intensity factor ranges for different crack lengths to explain the behavior of fatigue crack propagation. It was found that the hybrid joint has longer fatigue crack growth life compared to the simple bolted joint at a given bolt tightening torque. The results also showed that a higher bolt tightening torque provides improved fatigue crack growth life for both types of the joints.