Experimental and numerical investigation of the static response of environmentally aged adhesively bonded joints

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of moisture on the static response of adhesively bonded monolithic single lap joints and laminated doublers loaded in bending. All joints were made of aluminium alloy Al 2024-T3 bonded using epoxy film adhesive FM 73M OST. The joints were aged in deionised water at a temperature of 50 °C for up to 2 years exposure. The use of different widths of specimen (5 mm for monolithic single lap joints and 15 mm for laminated doublers) allowed both full and partial saturation of the adhesive layer. The bulk adhesive has been characterised to obtain the coefficient of moisture diffusion, the coefficient of thermal and moisture expansion and the moisture dependent mechanical properties. The testing results showed that the mechanical properties degraded in a linear way with the moisture content. The residual strength after exposure decreased with increasing moisture content (exposure time) and tended to level off towards saturation. The damage evolution and failure of the joint has been successfully monitored using the backface strain technique and in-situ video microscopy. Progressive damage finite element modelling using a moisture dependent, bilinear traction-separation law has been undertaken to predict the residual strength. Residual stresses due to thermal and swelling strains in the adhesive layer have been included; however their effect on the predicted static strength was not significant. Good agreement was found between the predicted residual strength and the experimental result.