A Stress Analysis and Strength Evaluation of Scarf Adhesive Joints Subjected to Static Tensile Loading

Abstract

Scarf adhesive joints used in practice. However, the stress distributions and the joints strengths have not yet been fully elucidate. Important issues are how to determine the scarf angle in adherend and how to determine the adhesive properties. In this study, the stress distributions in scarf adhesive joints under static tensile loadings are analyzed using three-dimensional finite-element calculations. In the FEM calculations, the effects of Young's modulus of the adhesive, adhesive thickness, scarf angle of the adherend on the stress distributions at the adhesive interfaces are examined. The maximum principal stresses were calculated at every element at the interfaces. As the results, it is found that the maximum value of the maximum principal stress occurs at the edge of the adhesive interfaces (z=0, 1/s=1). It is also observed that the maximum value of the stress is the smallest, when the scarf angle is 60 degree. In addition, the joint strength is estimated using the interface stress. For the verification of the FEM calculations, the experiments were carried out to measure the strengths and the strains in the joints under static tensile loadings using strain gauges. Fairly good agreements are observed between the numerical and the measured results concerning the joint strength and the strains.