Experimental determination of impact tensile properties of adhesive butt joints with the split Hopkinson bar

Abstract

The tensile strength and energy absorption of adhesive butt joints at high rates of loading are determined with a tensile split Hopkinson bar using a cylindrical specimen. A commercially available single-component cyanoacrylate adhesive (instantaneous adhesive) and two different adherend materials are used in the adhesion tests. The impact tensile strength of the cyanoacrylate adhesive butt joints is determined from the applied tensile stress history at failure initiation. The impact absorbed energy is obtained by numerical integration of dynamic tensile load-adhesive deformation data. Comparative tension tests at low and intermediate rates of loading are performed on an Instron testing machine. An axisymmetric finite element analysis is carried out to investigate the stress distributions in the adhesive layer of the cyanoacrylate adhesive butt joints. The effects of loading rate, adherend material and adhesive layer thickness on the tensile strength and energy absorption of the cyanoacrylate adhesive butt joints are examined in detail. It is shown that the joint tensile strength increases significantly with increasing loading rate and is greatly affected by both the adhesive layer thickness and the adherend materials. The limitations of the technique are discussed.