Stress Analysis and Strength of Scarf Adhesive Joints of Dissimilar Adherends Subjected to Static Bending Moments

Abstract

The stress distributions in scarf adhesive joints of dissimilar adherends under static bending moments are analyzed using three-dimensional finite-element calculations. The code employed is ANSYS. In 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 interface are examined. As the results, it is found that the maximum value of the maximum principal stress occurs at the edge of the scarf adhesive interface. It is also observed that the maximum value of the stress is minimum, when the scarf angle is 60 degree. In addition, the joint strength is estimated using the obtained stress distribution. For the verification of the FEM calculations, the experiments were carried out to measure the strengths and the strains in the joints under static bending moments using strain gauges. Fairly good agreements are observed between the numerical and the measured results concerning the joint strength and the strains.