Investigation of Residual Strength in CFRP Double-Adhesive Single Lap Bonded Joints after Low-velocity Impact

Abstract

ABSTRACT Single lap adhesive joints are prone to debonding and delamination during impact, affecting the residual tensile strength and mechanical properties. To improve the stress distribution and withstand larger loads, this paper proposes to use Araldite 2015 ductile adhesive at both ends of the joint and AV 138 brittle adhesive in the middle. Through finite element analysis and experiments, the residual strength and damage of the joint under different impact conditions are investigated, and a three-parameter Gram-Charlier model is established. The results show that the model can fit the data points accurately with a coefficient of determination of error above 0.99. As impact energy increases, the residual strength of the joint decreases, especially the AV 138 joint is more sensitive. The residual strength on one side of the impact joint is approximately 20% higher compared to the middle of the impact joint. For the same energy, the residual strength of the secondary impact was about 13% higher than that of the single impact. The main failure mode is cohesive failure, which gradually changes to fiber tear. The numerical simulation matches the experimental results, which verifies the reliability of the simulation and analysis methods.