Effect of protrusion at the ends of bondline in single lap joints under tension and bending

Abstract

In this work, elasto-plastic stress analysis of single lap joints with and without protrusion in adhesive bondline subjected to tension and bending was carried out using 2D non-linear finite element analysis and confirmed experimentally. AA 2024-T3 aluminum adherends were bonded with SBT 9244 film adhesive. The protrusion was obtained by extending the adhesive film by 2 mm from the overlap length at both overlap ends. Three different adherend thicknesses and overlap lengths for each loading and bondline type were used. The joints with and without protrusion, for comparison, were loaded with the same load for each adherend thickness and overlap length. Finally, it was observed that the protrusion reduces the strength in the joint under tension, while the protrusion increases the strength in the joint under bending.