An investigation of the fatigue performance of adhesively bonded step-lap joints: An experimental and numerical analysis

Abstract Adhesively bonded joints are used in many engineering applications and are manufactured by joining various materials together. Static and dynamic analysis of adhesively bonded joints is very important in both scientific and sector studies on these joints. In this study, the static and fatigue strengths of single-lap joints (SLJs) and three-step-lap joints (TSLJs) that were subjected to tensile and four-point bending tests were examined experimentally and numerically. Adhesively bonded joints were produced using DP460 toughened type adhesive and AA2024-T3 aluminum alloy was used as the adherent. Fatigue tests were performed at a loading ratio (R) of 0.1 and a frequency of 10 Hz. As a result, applying a step-lap to the overlap area of adhesively bonded joints considerably increased the tensile static and fatigue strength of the joint. For the single-lap joint, both the static tensile and the tensile fatigue lifetime limit value of the three-step-lap joint increased approximately 100%. One of the reasons for that increase was that the moment effect formed in single lap joints due to the eccentric loading is minimized and the other is that a step-lap applied to the overlap area retards the formation of damage. However, static bending and fatigue strength values of TSLJs significantly decreased compared to those of SLJs. In addition, the results of the experimental and numerical analyses were found to be highly compatible with each other.