Adhesive joints with improved mechanical properties for aerospace applications

Abstract Adhesion is attracting increasing interest in the aerospace field since composite materials have become, together with aluminium alloys, the main structural materials for aircraft primary structures. Nano-graphite was demonstrated to improve the mechanical performance of several polymers used as composite matrices. In this work Single Lap Joints (SLJs) of unidirectional composite laminates were manufactured, tested and simulated: two families of specimens were investigated and compared, one joined using conventional epoxy resin, the other joined with an adhesive obtained mixing the same epoxy resin with nano-graphite particles. The dispersion of expanded and sonicated graphene stacks (EGS, 3% wt) in the epoxy matrix was obtained by the swelling method, dispersing first the filler in acetone and then mixing it with the epoxy oligomers. Finally the solvent was evaporated and the filler-epoxy mixture was degassed under vacuum before adding an amine curing agent in a stoichiometric quantity. The research demonstrates the superior mechanical properties of the adhesive with the addition of nano-graphite through experimental characterization of its behaviour in terms of strength and energy absorption. Finite element numerical simulations have been carried out using the Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) element, obtaining as parameters the maximum shear stress and the critical fracture energy for the two adhesives. A good correlation between numerical and experimental results has been achieved and the criteria for developing reliable and accurate non-linear models of the adhesive failure have been established.