A new tensile rupture test for the mechanical characterization of an adhesively-bonded structural ceramic assembly

A new tensile rupture test, called the Cerache test (from the French words ceramique and arrachement), suitable for adhesively bonded brittle structural substrates is described. Owing to its simple axial geometry, the test assembly is easy to make, including adherends fabrication, the implementation of adhesive bonding, and adaptation of the bonded assembly to the rest machine. Finite element modelling of the bonded assembly, which deals with the elastic behaviour of ceramic adherends and the viscoelastic behaviour of the adhesive, is performed to determine specifically the stress distribution in the adhesive. The stresses are more uniformly distributed in thick joints than in thin ones. If stress types are considered, we note that tensile stresses are predominant for any joint thickness. To validate the test, the experimental results support the numerical predications.