Efficient stress analysis of adhesively bonded joints by finite elements techniques

The paper documents ongoing research on the field ofstress calculations in the adhesive layer of bonded joints andbonded structures. Aim of the research is to develop simple,general, portable, efficient and accurate finite elementtechniques for adhesive stress analysis and strength assessmentof the joint. Among four methods envisioned, two methods arepresented for 2D configurations and applied to a referencesingle-lap configuration. In both methods, the adherends aredescribed by means of beam elements and the adhesive layer bya single string of plane-stress solid elements. The plane-stresselements have either the original thickness of the true adhesivelayer or an expanded thickness up to the offset betweenadherends. Beams and plane-stress elements are connected bystandard constraining techniques (tied mesh) offered by thepackage employed (ABAQUS). The stress results provided bythe two methods are compared step by step with the predictionsof analytical models retrieved from the literature and with theoutcome of a full, computationally-intensive finite elementmodel using solid plane-stress elements for both adhesive andadherends. The simplified method using a single layer of planestress elements with the same thickness and properties as the true adhesive layer provides very promising results in terms of stress accuracy and computational efficiency.