A Parametric Study of Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior in Adhesively Bonded Metallic Structures

Abstract

Problems of adherend cracks inadhesively bonded structures are considered in this paper. Two different methods of analysis, namely the finite element method and the integral equation approach, are used to obtain the stress intensity factors, which are compared with those obtained experimentally. The results of fatigue crack growth tests on two-ply, adhesively bonded panels with a width of 300 mm and 150 mm, a crack at a hole, and a cracked plate with a bonded stiffener are discussed. Fatigue crack growth behavior predictions based on the analytical stress intensity factors are correlated with those obtained from experiments for a variety of test geometries. The influence of adhesive type, adhesive thickness, and stiffener thickness on crack growth behavior are discussed for the case of a cracked plate with a bonded stiffener.