Influence of Young’s adhesive modulus on impact strength of block adhesive joints

Abstract

The research described in this article is part of the authors’ search to determine the relationship between specific properties of adhesives and the impact strength of their joints. At impact loads, there may be a relationship between the adhesive Young’s modulus and the impact strength of the joints made using the adhesive. This hypothesis was verified by conducting experimental and numerical tests of joints made with adhesives of significantly different Young’s modulus values. In order to carry out the experimental tests, samples were prepared with the S235 steel adherends which were joined with epoxy adhesives: Epidian 57/Z1 and Loctite EA 9492, EA 9480, EA 9450 and EA 9455. The tests were carried out using a pendulum hammer dedicated to testing adhesive joints. The maximum energy of the pendulum used in the tests was 15 J. To determine the impact strength of the tested joints, was used the dependence according to which the energy used to detach the upper element of the sample in such a test, i.e. the energy lost by the pendulum, is a measure of the impact strength of the adhesive joint. Models for numerical calculations were developed on the basis of samples used in experimental tests. The prepared models, taking into account the initial and boundary conditions, were subjected to dynamic numerical calculations using the finite element method using the Explicit Dynamics module of the ANSYS program. The results of experimental and numerical tests clearly indicate the dependence of the impact strength of the block adhesive joints on the Young’s modulus of the applied adhesive. The highest impact strength among the tested joints are joints made with the lowest Young’s modulus adhesive.  

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