Fracture behaviour of epoxy adhesive joints modified with core-shell rubber nanoparticles

The fracture behaviour of core-shell rubber (CSR) nanoparticle modified epoxy adhesives is studied using the tapered double cantilever beam (TDCB) test. The addition of CSR nanoparticles increased the fracture energy by over 10 times, and changed the fracture behaviour from stick-slip to stable. As the bond gap thickness increased, the fracture energy increased to a peak value then decreased to the value of the bulk specimens for brittle adhesives, and increased then plateaued for ductile and tough adhesives. The variation of the fracture energy with CSR content and bond gap thickness was attributed to varying plastic zone size at the crack tip.