Stress Fields and Fracture Prediction for an Adhesively Bonded Bimaterial Structure with a Sharp Notch Located on the Interface

Results of prediction of the fracture of a bimaterial structure with a notch situated on the interface are presented. Investigated were elements made from aluminum and PMMA (connected adhesively) with different tip angles of the structural notch and subjected to three-point bending tests. To define the initiation of cracking, the Novozhilov hypothesis was used. The values of critical loads following from the hypothesis, for different forms of the damage function, are compared with experimental data. Validation of the criterion required a sufficiently accurate description of the singular stress fields arising around the notch tip. The methodology of their determination is discussed.