Effect of temperature on the shear strength of aluminium single lap bonded joints for high temperature applications

Abstract

An experimental and numerical investigation into the shear strength behaviour of adhesive single lap joints (SLJs) was carried out in order to understand the effect of temperature on the joint strength. The adherend material used for the experimental tests was an aluminium alloy in the form of thin sheets, and the adhesive used was a high-strength high temperature epoxy. Tensile tests as a function of temperature were performed and numerical predictions based on the use of a bilinear cohesive damage model were obtained. It is shown that at temperatures below T_g, the lap shear strength of SLJs increased, while at temperatures above T_g, a drastic drop in the lap shear strength was observed. Comparison between the experimental and numerical maximum loads representing the strength of the joints shows a reasonably good agreement.

Keywords:

• high temperature adhesives
• single lap joints
• temperature tests
• cohesive zone model

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for supporting the work presented here, through the individual grant SFRH/BD/61880/2009 and through the research project PTDC/EME-PME/67022/2006, and Nagase ChemteX (Japan) for supplying the adhesive.