Paper number 615

ANALYSIS OF ADHESIVELY BONDED SINGLE LAP JOINTS IN SRIM COMPOSITES UNDER FLEXURAL LOADING

K. Satish Kumar, Z. Xia and P. K. Mallick

Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, Michigan 48128, USA

Summary

This paper presents the results of a study carried out on adhesively bonded single lap joints between two SRIM composite substrates subjected to flexural loading. The flexural loading was created by deflecting the free end of a cantilever beam constructed of two SRIM substrates joined together by a thin layer of adhesive. Non-linear finite element analysis was used to determine the stress distributions in the adhesive as well as the substrates. The effects of substrate stiffness on the maximum longitudinal, transverse (peel) and shear stresses were determined. Deflection-controlled fatigue tests were conducted on a cantilever beam containing an adhesively bonded single lap joint between two SRIM substrates of various stiffnesses. Regions of high stress areas identified by the finite element analysis show good correlation with the location of failure initiation observed in fatigue tests.

Keywords

adhesive joints, single lap specimens, flexural loading, fatigue failure.