Analytical Peel Load Prediction as a Function of Adhesive Stress Concentration

Peel data for two epoxy adhesives and a recent model of the adhesive stresses in the peel geometry are used to investigate the effectiveness of two constitutive models and several adhesive failure criteria. The failure criteria are based on either the critical strain energy-release rate or the critical von Mises strain at the peel root, both taken as functions of the “loading zone length” (LZL), defined as a measure of the degree of stress concentration at the root of the peeling adherend. The peel model uses LZL as an independent parameter that captures the effects of the peel angle, adherend thickness, and the mechanical properties of the adhesive and adherend. Both the energy- and strain-based failure criteria can be used to predict the steady-state peel load with an average absolute error of less than 10% over the range of conditions that were examined.