Lap shear bond tests

EFFECT OF ELASTOMERS ON ADHESIVE PROPERTIES Single Lap Shear Bond Testing... 

With adhesives, therefore, the same test method may be quoted for widely differing materials and the standards are written in such a way as to take account of this. For instance, BS 5350 Part C5, the lap shear bond strength test (see Shear tests), may be nsed to determine the bond strength of adhesives of widely different cohesive strengths on substrates of widely differing nature. 

For solvated polyimide adhesives the lap shear strength test is not appropriate because the large overlap bond area prevents the full release of the solvent [61]. The authors underline that the die shear strength data are also highly scattered and... 

Fig. 2. Illustrations of forces to which adhesive bonds are subjected, (a) A standard lap shear specimen where the black area shows the adhesive. The adherends are usually 25 mm wide and the lap area is 312.5 mm. The arrows show the direction of the normal apphcation of load, (b) A peel test where the loading configuration, shown by the arrows, is for a 180° peel test, (c) A double cantilever beam test specimen used in the evaluation of the resistance to crack propagation of an adhesive. The normal application of load is shown by the arrows. This load is appHed by a tensile testing machine or other...

The principal type of shear test specimen used in the industry, the lap shear specimen, is 2.54 cm wide and has a 3.23-cm overlap bonded by the adhesive. Adherends are chosen according to the industry aluminum for aerospace, steel for automotive, and wood for constmction appHcations. Adhesive joints made in this fashion are tested to failure in a tensile testing machine. The temperature of test, as weU as the rate of extension, are specified. Results are presented in units of pressure, where the area of the adhesive bond is considered to be the area over which the force is appHed. Although the 3.23-cm ... 

Surface cleaning/etches. As with aluminum and titanium, the most critical test for bonded steel joints is durability in hostile (i.e., humid) environments. The fact that the problem is a serious one for steel was illustrated in a study [117] that compared solvent cleaned (smooth) 1010 cold-rolled steel surfaces with FPL aluminum (microrough) substrates. Although the dry lap-shear strengths were not markedly different, stressed lap-shear joints of steel adherends that were exposed to a humid environment failed in less than 30 days, whereas the aluminum joints lasted for more than 3000 days. 

Corrosion Testing. Salt spray testing (ASTM-B-117-52,54) was used to determine durability of adhesive bond in corrosive environment. Lap shear samples were exposed to salt spray for 14 days and then immediately tested for lap shear strength. 

The degree of bonding analysis has been verified for both compression molding and online consolidation of thermoplastic composites. In these studies, composite test specimens were consolidated under controlled processing conditions. The most common types of tests performed to measure the interply bond strength were the interlaminar (short beam) shear test [21,25] or the lap shear test [12,21,26]. 

A comparison of experimentally determined failure times for different stress levels and those predicted by the above equation for epoxy-aluminum lap shear joints aged at 60°C and 95 percent RH is presented in Table 15.3. These results indicate that the reaction rate method is satisfactory for predicting the effects of temperature and stress on the lifetime of adhesive bonds, provided that failure is cohesive within the adhesive. This, of course, should be validated by prototype testing. 

FIGURE 16.3 Typical bond durability data for Ti-6 Al-4 V adherends bonded with an epoxy adhesive and aged at 60°C and 100 percent RH. (a) Crack propagation versus time for the wedge crack propagation test. (b) Applied stress versus time to failure for the lap shear geometry. PF—phosphate fluoride MPF—modified phosphate fluoride DP—PasaJell 109 dry hone LP—PasaJell 107 liquid hone CAA-5—-5% solution CAA-10—10% solution TU—Turco 5578 etch DA—Dapcotreat.50... 

ASTM D 1144 provides a recommended practice for determining the rate of bond strength development for either tensile or lap shear specimens. However, peel and can-teliever tests can also be used effectively. Measured bond strength values of partially cured test specimens are compared with those of a reference (i.e., fully cured adhesive joint) to assess the extent of cure. This method may suit some applications, but it is limited in accuracy because it does not directly measure the degree of cure in the adhesive, and the effect on the joint design and substrates may override the effect of cure development. 

Fatigue Test. Fatigue testing places a given load repeatedly on a bonded joint. Lap shear or other specimens are tested on a machine capable of inducing cyclic loading... 

In light of these qualifications, it can only be said that the maximum measured value of 10 kg/mni seems reasonable. It also compares favorably with shear strength measurements derived from epoxy-bonded, lap-shear tests (9). 

This paper presents results from a study of assemblies composed of glass fibre reinforced epoxy composites. First, tests performed to produce mixed mode fracture envelopes are presented. Then results from tests on lap shear and L-stiffener specimens are given. These enabled failure mechanisms to be examined in more detail using an image analysis technique to quantify local strain fields. Finally the application of a fracture-mechanics-based analysis to predict the failure loads of top-hat stiffeners with and without implanted bond-line defects is described. Correlation between test results and predictions is reasonable, but special attention is needed to account for size effects and micro-structural variations induced by the assembly process. 

The paper is presented in three parts. First, the tests employed to determine the mixed mode fracture envelope of a glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite adhesively bonded with either a brittle or a ductile adhesive are briefly described. These include mode I (DCB), and mixed mode (MMB) with various mixed mode (I/II) ratios. In the second part of the paper different structural joints will be discussed. These include single and double lap shear and L-specimens. In a recent European thematic network lap shear and double lap shear composite joints were tested, and predictions of failure load were made by different academic and industrial partners [9,10]. It was apparent that considerable differences existed between different analytical predictions and FE analyses, and correlation with tests proved complex. In particular, the progressive damage development in assemblies bonded with a ductile adhesive was not treated adequately. A more detailed study of damage mechanisms was therefore undertaken, using image analysis combined with microscopy to examine the crack tip strain fields and measure adherend displacements. This is described below and correlation is made between predicted displacements and failure loads, based on the mixed mode envelope determined previously, and measured values. 

A first step in the validation of this approach is to test simple specimens under controlled conditions and to compare predictions with measured failure load values. First lap shear geometries were examined, then an L-geometry was studied in more detail. The bond-line in these small specimens was very similar to that in the quasi-unidirectional fracture specimens as the small dimensions allow panels to be pressed uniformly after assembly (which is not the case for industrial top-hat stiffeners). 

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