Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Basic Level
prepared by
Lutz Dorn, Technische Universität, Berlin
Objectives:
− to describe the factors governing the strength of adhesive joints in order to appreciate
these factors for the design of adhesively bonded joints, i.e. geometry of joint,
stiffness and strength of the adjoining parts, stress distribution in the adhesive layer
as well as the effects of humidity and ageing
Prerequisites:
Table of Contents
TALAT 4702 2
4702.01 Basic Factors Governing Strength of Joints
The peculiar behaviour of the strength of adhesively joint metals is a result of the fact
that the joint system is not homogeneous but consists instead of a composite system in
which the resulting properties are a combination of the individual properties of the parts
to be joint, the adhesive layer and the interface layers (Figure 4702.01.01).
Adhesive Joint
Source: Habenicht
alu
Factors Influencing the Strength of Adhesive Joints 4702.01.01
Training in Aluminium Application Technologies
The specific properties of the adhesive joint are a result of the strengths obtained due to
the geometrical and material design.
The following statement can serve as a basis for assessing the behaviour of adhesive
joints in metals and consequently in dimensioning and designing such joints.
Loading factors
TALAT 4702 3
S t r e s s in g T y p e
Environmental Stress:
Mechanical Stress: (Aging)
Shear
Tension
Tensile-Shear Temperature
Complex Stress: Physical
(Reaction)
Bending (Peeling) (Both Types)
Compression Climate gen.
Torsion Corrosive Chemical
Climate
Time-Dependent
Stress
Long-Time
Short-Time Static
Reversed
Impact, High-Rate Impat Repeated
Static Static
Dynamic
Source: Habenicht
alu
Types of Stresses on Adhesive Joints 4702.01.02
Training in Aluminium Application Technologies
The combined action of the influencing factors and their parameters are the basis for the
production of an optimal adhesive joint and govern its attainable strength (Figure
4702.01.03).
Modulus of Modulus of
Overlap Length, lü Mechanical
Elasticity, EK Elasticity, EF
Tensile Strength,
Shear Modulus, G Overlap Width b Physical
Rm
Source: Habenicht
TALAT 4702 4
4702.02 Stress Distributions in Lap Joints
The load distribution in one-sided lap joints subjected to tensile-shear loading, depends
on the stiffness of the joint parts and the deformability of the adhesive layer. The
amount of the relative movement of the joint parts is a result of the deformation capacity
of the adhesive layer (Figure 4702.02.01).
Unloaded Joint
A B
σα C D
Loaded Rigid Joint and
Shear Stress Distribution
Adhesives of the elastic-plastic type cause only low stress peaks at the overlap ends, in
spite of the large relative movements of the joint parts (Figure 4702.02.02).
TALAT 4702 5
Stress of Adhesive Joints in Metals
a) τmax b) τmax
F F
F F
v1 v2
v1 < v2
The occurrence of possible peeling stress during loading has a very major influence on
the strength of adhesive joints. They occur both in tensile tests conducted on lap joints
(due to eccentric loading) as well as in pure peeling tests (with extremely high stress
peaks) (Figure 4702.02.03).
σmax
alu
TALAT 4702 6
4702.03 Effects of Geometric Parameters
The strength of narrow (≤ 5 mm) overlapped joints is a result of solely adhesion and
cohesion forces in the adhesive layer. At overlapping lengths exceeding a certain
amount and depending on the geometry and strength of the joint parts and on the
deformation capacity of the adhesive layer, stress peaks, in excess of the strength of the
adhesive layer, occur at the overlap ends causing the strength to fall (Figure
4702.03.01).
60
2
3
Adhesive Strength τ B
40
20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Length of Overlap lü mm
Source: Matting
alu
Consequently, the optimal overlapping length, lo2, of adhesive joints is so chosen that
overloading the structural to more than the limiting stress causes a rupture of the
adhesive layer (Figure 4702.03.02).
TALAT 4702 7
Strength of Adhesive Joints in Metals
τ Bmax
τ Bm τ Bmax
τ Bm
τ Bm
F F F
l ü1 F l ü2 F l ü3 F
R p 0,2
l ü1 l ü2 l ü3 lü
The joint part thickness increases the strength of the adhesive joint by increasing both
the stiffness as well as the bending moment of the joint. An increased thickness of the
joint parts also increases the adhesive joint strength (Figure 4702.04.01).
Stress peaks occurring at the overlap ends are lower for thicker joint parts because the
latter leads to a higher rigidity allowing the adhesive layer to accommodate a larger part
of the load.
TALAT 4702 8
Strength of Adhesive Joints in Metals
60
Nmm -2
1
45
Adhesive Strength τ B
2
3
30
1 = Epoxy Dicynanoamide
2 = Phenolic Polyvinyl Formal
3 = PMMA - Neoprene / Styrene
15
0 1,5 3 4,5 mm 6
Thickness of Joint, s
Source: Brockmann
30
AlMg3
23
20
Al s = 10 mm lÜ = 7.0 mm
12 Adhesive EPOXY RESIN
10
The strength of an adhesive joint depends on the thermal and mechanical stress as well
as on the humidity of the environment.
TALAT 4702 9
The combined occurrence of both types of stresses is especially harmful (Figure
4702.05.01).
28
Nmm -2
Phenolic Resins, warm hardening
21 10,5
Stress σ
7,0 Phenolic Resins,
14
warm hardening
Epoxy Resins, cold hardening
7 3,5
Epoxy Resins,
cold hardening
0 100 300 500 700 days 10 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5 min
Stressing Time
7 70 days
Behaviour of Aluminium Alloy 6060 - T6 under Stressing: Time to Failure of Joint
a) 52° C, 100 % rel. Humidity, without Mechanical Stressing
b) 52° C, 100 % rel. Humidity, with Mechanical Stressing
Source: Minford
Adhesive joints with sufficient deformation capacity have a longer operational life than
those with lower deformability. Fatigue strength increases with the static strength of the
adhesive.
At 107 cycles, the fatigue strength is equal to about 14 % of the static short-time strength
(Figure 4702.06.01).
TALAT 4702 10
Strength of Adhesive Metal Joints
18
Nmm-2
1
14 1 = Epoxy - Nylon
2 = Epoxy - Polyaminoamide
12
!0
3 = Phenolic - Polyvinyl Formal
Maximum Stress
2
10
9
3
8
7.2
7
1- !B = 50 Nmm-2
6 !
2 - B = 43.4 Nmm-2
6.1
5.7
3 - !B = 37.4 Nmm-2
5
104 5 105 5 106 5 107 5 108
Number of Cycles N
Correlation between fatigue strength under repeated stress and a number of cycles
for different strengths of joining parts
10
Repeated Stress Tschw
X 10 CrNiNb 18 9
AlCuMg 2 pl
5
0
103 104 105 106 107 108
Number of Cycles N
Source: Althof
TALAT 4702 11
4702.07 Literature/References
TALAT 4702 12
4702.08 List of Figures
TALAT 4702 13