Cohesive and XFEM evaluation of adhesive failure for dissimilar single-lap joints

Cohesive Zone Modelling (CZM) and eXtended Finite Element Modelling (XFEM) available in Abaqus® are used together to simulate the behaviour and strength of dissimilar single-lap adhesively bonded joints. A distinct CZM model is also used. Single-lap joints made of aluminium and carbon fibre adherends of different thickness are tested to understand better the behaviour of such dissimilar joints. Local deformation fields are monitored by using the digital image correlation method (DIC). Peeling and shearing strains are investigated, emphasizing that peeling is important in the region where failure is initiated, towards an extremity of the overlap region. The use of dissimilar adherends is reducing the strength and stiffness of the joints as the delamination and pull-out of the carbon fibres reduces the integrity of the joint. The experimental evidence given by DIC is not to be obtained by numerical simulations.