Experimental strength evaluation of glass/aluminum double-lap adhesive joints

The use of structural adhesives in the field of civil engineering has increased substantially over the last decades. Although adhesive joints offer significant advantages if compared with conventional connections, the prediction of their behaviour must take into account several aspects such as environmental exposure both during application and service life, the type of adherends, etc. This paper reports on an experimental campaign on glass-aluminium adhesive joints, with different finishes for adherend materials (float glass, float cold-painted glass, raw aluminium, anodized aluminum) and on the adhesion of selected epoxy adhesives. The effects of artificial aging on the mechanical performance of adhesive joints, compared to unaged condition, are also investigated. Four series of double-lap specimens made with different materials and exposed to different aging conditions were tested. The experiments showed that the EPX2 adhesive provided the best mechanical performance to artificial aging; the best adherends configuration was the aluminum and cold-painted glass adhesive joint. The artificial aging had different effects depending on the adhesive, causing a decay of the joint performance in each combination. The results are detailed below.