Experimental analysis of tensile and compressive failure load in single-lap adhesive joint of green composites

Abstract In this study, the tensile and compressive performance of adhesively bonded single-lap joint of green composites (bamboo fiber/Polylactic acid (PLA)) has been experimentally investigated. The green composites have been fabricated by film stacking method in compression molding. The important factors affecting the performance of the adhesively bonded joint such as overlapping length of the specimen (20, 40, and 60 mm) and width of the specimen (20, 26, and 32 mm) have been studied for epoxy, polyurethane, and parent polymer (PLA) used as bonding materials for joining of developed green composites. From the experimental analysis, it has been found that the higher levels of width and overlapping length of the joint specimen offer better tensile and compressive strength of the joint specimen. The failure loads of the joint specimens have been found to be more for epoxy as compared to PLA and polyurethane used for the purpose of joining. The relative significance of the chosen input parameters has also been found by performing analysis of variance (ANOVA). The most significant parameter has been found to be the width of the specimen for tensile failure load and type of bonding material for compressive failure load. The failure mode analysis has revealed that adhesive and cohesive failures are the major mode of failure of the adhesively bonded green composites under tensile and compressive loadings.