In this thesis an experimental method to calculate cohesive characteristics for an adhesive layer in a End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimen is presented and evaluated. The method is based on the path independent J-integral where the energy release rate (ERR) for the adhesive is derived as a function of the applied forces and the rotational displacements at the loading point and at the supports of the specimen. The major advantage with the method in comparison with existing theory known by the job initiator is that it is still applicable with ENF specimens that are subjected to yielding of the adherends. The structure of this thesis is disposed so that the theory behind the J-integral method is shortly described and then an evaluation of the method is performed by aid of finite element simulations using beam and cohesive elements. The finite element simulations indicates that the ERR can be determined with good accuracy for an ENF specimen where a small scale yielding of the adherends has occurred. However when a fully cross sectional yielding of the adherends is reached the ERR starts diverging from the exact value and generates a too high ERR according to input data in the simulations, i.e. the exact values. The importance in length of the adhesive process zone is also shown to be irrelevant to the ERR measured according to the J-integral method. Simulation performed with continuum elements indicates that a more reality based FE- simulation implies a higher value of the applied load in order to create crack propagation. This is an effect of that the specimen is allowed to roll on the supports which makes the effective length between the supports shorter than the initial value when the specimen is deformed. This results in a stiffer specimen and thus a higher applied force is needed to create crack propagation in the adhesive layer. An experimental set up of an ENF specimen is created and the sample data from the experiments are evaluated with the J-integral method. For measuring the rotational displacements of the specimen which are needed for the J-integral equation an image system is developed by the author and validated by use of linear elastic beam theory. The system calculates the three rotational displacements of the specimen by aid of images taken by a high resolution SLR camera and the system for measuring the rotations may also be used in other applications than for a specific ENF geometry. The validation of the image system shows that the rotations calculated by the image system diverge from beam theory with less than 2.2 % which is a quite good accuracy in comparison with the accuracies for the rest of the used surveying equipment. The results from the experiment indicates that the used, about 0.36 mm thick SikaPower 498, adhesive has an maximum shear strength of 37.3 MPa and a critical shear deformation of 482 µm. The fracture energy is for this thickness of the adhesive is determined as 12.9 kJ/m2. This report ends with a conclusion- and a suggested future work- chapter.

<p>In this thesis an experimental method to calculate cohesive characteristics for an adhesive layer in a End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimen is presented and evaluated. The method is based on the path independent J-integral where the energy release rate (ERR) for the adhesive is derived as a function of the applied forces and the rotational displacements at the loading point and at the supports of the specimen. The major advantage with the method in comparison with existing theory known by the job initiator is that it is still applicable with ENF specimens that are subjected to yielding of the adherends.</p><p>The structure of this thesis is disposed so that the theory behind the J-integral method is shortly described and then an evaluation of the method is performed by aid of finite element simulations using beam and cohesive elements. The finite element simulations indicates that the ERR can be determined with good accuracy for an ENF specimen where a small scale yielding of the adherends has occurred. However when a fully cross sectional yielding of the adherends is reached the ERR starts diverging from the exact value and generates a too high ERR according to input data in the simulations, i.e. the exact values. The importance in length of the adhesive process zone is also shown to be irrelevant to the ERR measured according to the J-integral method.</p><p>Simulation performed with continuum elements indicates that a more reality based FE- simulation implies a higher value of the applied load in order to create crack propagation. This is an effect of that the specimen is allowed to roll on the supports which makes the effective length between the supports shorter than the initial value when the specimen is deformed. This results in a stiffer specimen and thus a higher applied force is needed to create crack propagation in the adhesive layer.</p><p>An experimental set up of an ENF specimen is created and the sample data from the experiments are evaluated with the J-integral method. For measuring the rotational displacements of the specimen which are needed for the J-integral equation an image system is developed by the author and validated by use of linear elastic beam theory. The system calculates the three rotational displacements of the specimen by aid of images taken by a high resolution SLR camera and the system for measuring the rotations may also be used in other applications than for a specific ENF geometry. The validation of the image system shows that the rotations calculated by the image system diverge from beam theory with less than 2.2 % which is a quite good accuracy in comparison with the accuracies for the rest of the used surveying equipment.</p><p>The results from the experiment indicates that the used, about 0.36 mm thick SikaPower 498, adhesive has an maximum shear strength of 37.3 MPa and a critical shear deformation of 482 µm. The fracture energy is for this thickness of the adhesive is determined as 12.9 kJ/m².</p><p>This report ends with a conclusion- and a suggested future work- chapter.</p>

This thesis concerns some aspects that have influence on the strength of adhesive layers. The strength is determined by the stress deformation-relation of the layer. This relation is also referred to as cohesive law. The aspects having influence on the cohesive laws that are studied in this work are temperature, fatigue, multi-axial fatigue and mixed mode loading. For each aspect, a model is developed that can be used to describe the influence of the aspects on the cohesive laws numerically, e.g. by using the finite element method. These models are shown to give good agreement with the experimental results when performing simulations that aims at reproducing the experiments. For the aspect of temperature, a FE-model is suggested that can be used to simulate the mechanical behaviour in pure mode loadings at any temperature within the evaluated temperature span. Also, a damage law for modelling high cycle fatigue in a bonded structure in multi-axial loading is presented. Lastly, a new experimental set-up is presented for evaluating strength of adhesives during mixed mode loading. The set-up enables loading with a constant mode-mix ratio and by the experimental results, a potential model for describing the mechanical behaviour of the evaluated adhesive is presented.

In response to serious environmental and economic concerns, the design and production of aircrafts have been changing profoundly over the past decades with the nose-to-tail switch from metallic materials to lightweight composite materials such as carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). In this context, the present doctoral research work aimed to contribute to the development of a CFRP booster casing, a real innovation in the field initiated and conducted by Safran Aero Boosters. More specifically, this thesis addresses the matter of joining metal/CFRP hybrid structures, which are prone to possibly detrimental residual stresses.The issue is treated with an approach combining experimental characterisation and finite element (FE) simulations. The multi-layered system’s state of damage was systematically examined on hundreds of micrographs, and the outcome of this study is presented under the form of a statistical analysis. Further, the defects’ 3D morphology is investigated by incremental polishing. A number of thermal and mechanical properties are measured by diverse physical tests on part of the constituent materials, i.e. the aerospace grade RTM6 epoxy resin, the structural Redux 322 epoxy film adhesive, and AISI 316L stainless steel. They are used as input data in a FE model of the multilayer that is developed and progressively refined to obtain detailed residual stress fields after thermal loading. These results are compared to experimental data acquired by X-ray diffraction stress analysis and with the curvature-based Stoney formula. Cohesive elements are placed at specific locations within the FE model to allow simulating progressive damage. Peel tests, mode I, mode II and mixed mode I/II fracture tests are thus performed in view of measuring the joint toughness. The results of these tests are discussed and the presence of residual stress in the fracture specimens is highlighted. Key information for the calibration of the cohesive law is finally identified via inverse FE analysis of the mode I test, this being a significant step in the process of building a damage predictive FE model of the multi-layered system. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished