Effect of Adherent Thickness on Strength of Single-lap Adhesive Composites Joints

Abstract

Tension tests on single-lap T700/EXOPY unidirectional laminates adhesively joints of two kinds of adherent thicknesses under uniaxial tensile loading are performed, and the failure modes and shear stress—strain curves of them are analyzed and compared. Furthermore, finite element simulations are carried out to analyze the peel/shear stress fields along joint interfaces. The simulation results show that the joint strength is not linear with the adherent thickness. The maximum peel/shear stress of the interface of lap zone increases with the increase of adherent thickness, and the joint strength decreases with the increase of thickness difference of adherents. Good agreements between the present simulations and the experimental results are found.