Improvement of the Adhesive Fracture Toughness of Bonded Aluminum Joints Using E-Glass Fibers at Cryogenic Temperature

Fracture toughness and crack resistance of aluminum adhesive joints were measured at the cryogenic temperature of -150 degrees C, with respect to the orientation and volume fraction of the E-glass fibers in the epoxy adhesive. Cleavage tests on the DCB (Double Cantilever Beam) adhesive joints were performed using two different test rates of 1.67 x 10(-2) and 8.33 x 10(-4) mm/s to observe the crack propagation trends. From the experiments, it was found that the DCB joints bonded with the epoxy adhesive reinforced with E-glass fibers not only showed a stable crack propagation with a low crack propagation speed, but also higher fracture toughness and crack resistance than those of the DCB joints bonded with the unreinforced epoxy adhesive at a cryogenic temperature of -150 degrees C. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010