STUDY OF CRITICAL FAILURE PARAMETERS FOR AN ADHESIVE-BONDED SINGLE LAP JOINT WITH CERAMIC ADHERENDS

The failure behaviour of an adhesive-bonded single lap joint with ceramic (silicon carbide) adherends has been investigated using an experimental crack test in which the conditions are close to those in the ASTM D2293-69 standard test. The critical strain energy release rate (G(IIC)) and the critical stress intensity factor in shear mode (K-IIC) are the propagation criteria used. The ANSYS finite element code has been used to model the experimental work, with good agreement being obtained between experimental and numerical results. Adhesive and cohesive failures of the joints were encountered, with different values of G(IIC) and K-IIC for each type of failure. The G(IIC) value observed for cohesive failure of the joint is 10 times greater than that calculated for adhesive failure.