Determining the effective material properties of damaged particle-filled adhesives

The damage occurring on the micro-structural level in a commercially available filled epoxy adhesive has been investigated. Scanning electron microscopy of loaded bulk compact tension specimens has provided quantitative data regarding the size and distribution of the damage, which, for the particular adhesive under investigation, takes the form of particle cracking and debonding. Finite element analyses were carried out on representative unit cells of the material. These provided properties for the base epoxy adhesive which were used to determine the macroscopic elastic constants of the damaged material. These macroscopic properties can be used in further analyses to assess the effect that the presence of damaged material has on a system.