Elastic flexural analysis of adhesively bonded similar and dissimilar beams using refined zigzag theory and peridynamic differential operator

Abstract This study investigates elastic flexural behavior of adhesively bonded similar and dissimilar beams using Refined Zigzag Theory (RZT) and Peridynamic Differential Operator (PDDO). PDDO replaces local differentiation with nonlocal integration. This makes the PDDO capable of solving the local differential equations accurately. RZT is suitable for both thin and thick beams eliminating the use of the shear correction factors. Three joint configurations were considered such as adhesively bonded aluminum-aluminum (Al–Al), aluminum-steel (Al-St), and steel-steel (St-St) joints. The governing equations of RZT beam and boundary conditions were derived by employing the principle of virtual work. The capability of the present approach was assessed by considering dissimilar bonded Al-St beam under uniformly distributed sinusoidal load. It achieved robust and accurate predictions for the displacement and stress components for bonded Al-St beam. Each component of the adhesively bonded beams exhibited different stress and deformation states. As the bonded beam becomes stiffer due to a stiffer (St) upper adherend, the bonded St–St and Al–St beams experienced lower deflection than those in the bonded Al–Al beam.