Thermal characteristics of tubular single lap adhesive joints under axial loads

When an adhesive joint is exposed to high environmental temperature. the tensile load capability of the adhesive joint decreases because both the elastic modulus and failure strength of the adhesive decrease. The thermo-mechanical properties of a structural adhesive can be improved by addition of fillers to the adhesive. In this paper. the elastic modulus and failure strength of adhesives as well as the tensile load capability of tubular single lap adhesive joints were experimentally and theoretically investigated with respect to the volume fraction of filler (alumina) and the environmental temperature. Also the tensile modulus of the filler containing epoxy adhesive was predicted using a new equation which considers filler shape, filler content, and environmental temperature, The tensile load capability of the adhesive joint was predicted by using the effective strain obtained from the finite element analysis and a new failure model, from which the relation between the bond length and the crack length was developed with respect to the volume fraction of filler.