Effect of crack-growth mechanism on the prediction of fracture load of adhesive joints

This paper presents observations regarding the cracking behavior of tensile-loaded structural adhesive joints. Experiments showed that fracture occurred by the development and propagation of a damage zone, rather than a single, sharp crack, and that the presence of the adhesive spew fillet did not affect the fracture load of the adhesive joints studied. For joints bonded with the mineral-filled epoxy Cybond 4523GB (American Cyanamid), there was approximately 5 mm of subcritical crack propagation prior to final fracture. Fracture-load predictions based on the initial uncracked geometry made in previous papers were unaffected by this small change in geometry. For joints bonded with the rubber-toughened epoxy Permabond ESP 310, approximately 50 mm of subcritical crack propagation was observed. It was again found that predictions made in previous papers on the basis of the initial geometry gave a good estimate of the final fracture load even though this subcritical crack propagation significantly altered the geometry, and thus the applied energy release rates. The effect of shear deformations of the adherends was also investigated, and it was found that shear deformations could be neglected in engineering calculations for joints subject to remote tensile loading.