Viscoplastic analysis of adhesive joints

The uniaxial constitutive law for an adhesive is studied by constant strain rate tensile, creep and relaxation tests. The S-D effect of the adhesive is taken into account by using the Raghava yielding criterion in a three dimensional constitutive formulation. The obtained constitutive law is then used to analyze a single lap joint and a butt joint by a finite element method. Constant cross head speed tensile and creep loading cases are examined. For a butt joint, the results show that the viscous effect and the influence of the hydrostatic stress must be taken into account due to the variation of the hydrostatic stress and of the loading rate in the adhesive layer as function of its thickness. A comparison with experimental results is also given. A good agreement between viscoplastic calculations and experimental results is obtained for single-lap joints. A reasonable result is obtained for butt joints and the discrepancy is attributed to interfacial debonding.