Numerical Studies on Mechanical Behavior of Adhesive Joints

This paper describes some finite element models for analyzing the mechanical behavior of adhesive joints. In these models five layers of solid elements were used across the adhesive layer in order to increase the accuracy of the results. The finite elements were refined gradually in steps from adherends to adhesive layer. In these models, most of the adherends and adhesive were modeled using solid brick elements but some solid triangular prism elements were used for a smooth transition. In some of the models, linear interpolation elements of full or reduced integration and of hybrid formulation were used. In other models, quadratic interpolation elements of full or reduced integration and of hybrid formulation were used. Comparisons are drawn between models with different modeling approaches as well as different types of element combinations in order to find a suitable model to predict the behavior of adhesive joints.