Adhesive joints for structural timber/glass applications: Experimental testing and evaluation methods

A study of three different adhesives, silicone, acrylate and polyurethane, intended for adhesive joints in structural timber/glass applications is presented in this paper. Intentionally, adhesives with a wide range of properties were chosen. The adhesive bonds between timber and glass were tested both in tension and in shear with a bond area of 800 mm². Special fixtures were designed both for gluing and testing the specimens. The results include strength and failure type of the adhesive bond as well as deformation of the bond lines, measured with LVDTs and a non-contact optical 3D-deformation measuring system used in combination with finite element modelling in order to obtain detailed information about the behaviour.Of the tested adhesives, the acrylate (SikaFast 5215) provided the largest strength, both in tension and shear. The mean strength obtained for this adhesive bond was 3.0 MPa in tension and 4.5 MPa in shear.Further, it is demonstrated how rotations in the specimen during the test can be detected with the optical measuring system and how finite element modelling can be used to study the stress distribution internally in the adhesive bond. One conclusion obtained from the combination of results from the optical measuring system and finite element modelling is that the behaviour of the silicone adhesive is highly influenced by its near incompressible behaviour.