Bondline thickness: Fracture mechanics perspective

The bondline thickness is a crucial parameter affecting the strength and toughness of adhesive joints. This parameter is responsible for the stress distribution, and thus, the efficiency of the stress transfer between the adherends, the failure modes, and the correspondent failure loads. However, the available literature reports different...

On the influence of the adhesive and the adherend ductility on mode I fracture characterization of thick adhesively-bonded joints

Thicker bondlines along with manufacturing-tolerant and fracture-resistant adhesives are trends visible across different industries, especially maritime. In this work, two contrasting adhesives: an elastic-brittle epoxy-based, and a nonlinear-ductile methyl methacrylate (MMA) are characterized and compared via tensile, compact tension (CT)...

Testing mechanical performance of adhesively bonded composite joints in engineering applications: an overview

The development of new adhesives has allowed to expand the application of bonding into the most diverse industrial fields. This review article presents the commonly used experimental methods for the investigation of mechanical performance of adhesively bonded joints in the aerospace, wind energy, automotive and civil engineering sectors. In...

Multi-material adhesive joints with thick bond-lines: Crack onset and crack deflection

This study investigates the fracture onset and crack deflection in multi-material adhesive joints with thick bond-lines (≈10 mm) under global mode I loading. The role of adherend-adhesive modulus-mismatch and pre-crack length are scrutinized. The parameters controlling the crack path directional stability are also discussed. Single-material ...

Role of adherend material on the fracture of bi-material composite bonded joints

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the adherend material on the mode I fracture behaviour of bi-material composite bonded joints. Both single-material (steel-steel and composite-composite) and bi-material (steel-composite) joints bonded with a structural epoxy adhesive are studied. Additionally, two adhesive bondline...

From thin to extra-thick adhesive layer thicknesses: Fracture of bonded joints under mode I loading conditions

The fracture behaviour of joints bonded with a structural epoxy adhesive and bond line thicknesses of 0.1–4.5 mm has been studied. However, limited research is found on similar joints with thicker bond lines, which are relevant for maritime applications. Therefore, the effect of the adhesive bond line thickness, varying from 0.4 to 10.1 mm,...

On the fracture behaviour of CFRP bonded joints under mode I loading: Effect of supporting carrier and interface contamination

This paper addresses the fracture behaviour of bonded composite plates featuring a kissing bond along the crack growth path. Double cantilever beam (DCB) experiments are carried out under a displacement controlled loading condition to acquire the load response. The experimental data are collected and analysed analytically for specimens with...