A study of interface strength in bonded materials

Abstract

The study of interface strength in bonded materials particularly in joints is of practical interest to industry. Adhesive bonded joints are increasingly used in structural applications and a fundamental understanding of the failure subjected to mixed mode fracture loading is required for quality assurance against brittle fracture. The strength of adhesive bonded joints is a major concern when it is a load carrying structural member. Fracture mechanics has been applied successfully in quantifying the fracture toughness of adhesive joints under pure mode I condition. However for mixed mode fracture assessments, no standard procedure is available and in this project, a new test specimen and procedure is proposed.