Högskolan i Skövde

Mode I fatigue crack growth at load levels close to the threshold is studied with the aim of improving the understanding of the fatigue properties. We also aim at identifying a suitable damage evolution law for large-scale simulation of built-up structures. A fatigue test rig is designed where up to six specimens are tested simultaneously. Each specimen is evaluated separately indicating the specimen-to-specimen variation in fatigue properties. A rubber-based and a PUR-based adhesive are tested. The two adhesives represent adhesives with very different material properties; the rubber adhesive is a stiff structural adhesive and the PUR adhesive is a soft modular adhesive. The experiments are first evaluated using a traditional Paris’ law approach. Inspired by an existing damage evolution law, a modified damage evolution law is developed based on only three parameters. The law is implemented as a user material in Abaqus and the parameters are identified. The results from simulations show a very good ability to reproduce the experimental data. With this model of fatigue damage, a zone of damage evolves at the crack tip. The extension of this zone depends on the stiffness of the adherends; stiffer adherends leads to a larger damage zone. This means that the rate of crack growth depends on the stiffness of the adherends. Thus, not only the state at the crack tip governs the rate of crack growth. This is in contrast to the results of a model based on Paris’ law where only the state at the crack tip, through the energy release rate, governs the rate of crack growth. This indicates that the threshold value of the energy release rate may depend on the stiffness of the adherends.

The influence of the temperature on the cohesive laws for an epoxy adhesive is studied in the glassy region, i.e. below the glass transition temperature. Cohesive laws are derived in both Mode I and Mode II under quasi-static loading conditions in the temperature range C. Three parameters of the cohesive laws are studied in detail: the elastic stiffness, the peak stress and the fracture energy. Methods for determining the elastic stiffness in Mode I and Mode II are derived and evaluated. Simplified bi-linear cohesive laws to be used at any temperature within the studied temperature range are derived for each loading mode. All parameters of the cohesive laws are measured experimentally using only two types of specimens. The adhesive has a nominal layer thickness of 0.3 mm and the crack tip opening displacement is measured over the adhesive thickness. The derived cohesive laws thus represent the entire adhesive layer as having the present layer thickness. It is shown that all parameters, except the Mode I fracture energy, decrease with an increasing temperature in both loading modes. The Mode I fracture energy is shown to be independent of the temperature within the evaluated temperature span. At C the Mode II fracture energy is decreased to about 2/3 of the fracture energy at C. The experimental results are verified by finite element analyses.