Effect of hygrothermal aging and cyclic thermal shocks on the mechanical performance of single-lap adhesive joints

Abstract

The durability of adhesive joints is potentially affected by the presence of water and thermal shocks. Therefore, the current work intends to study the effect of hygrothermal aging and cyclic thermal shocks degradation on the tensile properties of single-lap adhesive joints. To accomplish this goal, adhesive joints were subjected to several cycles composed of two blocks of 12 h and involving, each block, different temperatures and environments (water and air). Two batches of specimens were used in this study, involving aluminium 6082-T6 adherends with ductile and brittle adhesives. The maximum failure load and ultimate strain was obtained with the ductile adhesive. Higher hygrothermal aging temperatures result in a drastic reduction of the failure load and ultimate strain, irrespective of the adhesive type. The failure load and ultimate strain are marginally affected by the effect of thermal shocks in air, while the failure load decreases significantly with the increase in hygrothermal shocks. However, the combination of water/air was found to be more severe than water/water.