Design and optimisation of adhesively bonded overlap joints

Adhesive bonding is used increasingly by the automotive industry to join structural components of metallic and composite materials. The most common joint configuration is the lap shear joint, which has been investigated widely and several ideas have been proposed to improve its performance. For example, the introduction of fillets at the overlap ends or tapering of the substrates can reduce the peel stresses at the overlap end. This work reviews the most common joint optimisations and compares the stress distribution of a selection of joint improvements numerically. A parametric study was carried out using FEA showing trends influencing stresses in the adhesive layer and the substrate materials. This resulted in a novel joint design that was called the reverse-bent joint. Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the assumptions used in, and the findings of, the FEA. Different metallic materials, as well as fibre reinforced composites, were chosen to be joined with various adhesives. The joint strengths of reverse-bent joints were found to be up to 40% higher compared to flat joints when metallic substrates were used. Due to the significant decrease of through-thickness stresses at the overlap ends the joint strength of composite lap shear joints increased up to 190% using the reverse-bent joint configuration depending upon the chosen fibre layup.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Fessel, Guido

Contributors dc:contributor

• Broughton, James
• Fellows, Neil

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/8hkt-zq11

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:6c972ad0-59fa-456c-a7ce-c2c9c82f2bcd:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1