Experimental and Numerical Strength Analysis of Double Lap Joints Subjected to Tensile Loads

Abstract

Abstract In this paper the mechanical behaviour of double lap joints (DLJs) bonded with adhesive was analyzed. The stress-strain behaviour was investigated along the overlap length and adherend thickness in DLJs subjected to tensile loads. The stress analyses were performed by finite element method (FEM). The FEM calculations were performed using ANSYS (12.0.1). Experimental results were compared with the FEM results and were found to be quite reasonable. The results show that the failure loads are increased with an increase in adherend thickness. The stress-strain behaviour changes depending on adherend thickness and overlap length. Both FEM stress analyses and experimental results revealed that failure occurred around the edge zones of the overlap length due to the effect of shear stresses, while the failure at the edges of the adhesive layer originated from the peel stress in tensile.