Mechanical and failure analysis of “outer single lap” adhesive joints of carbon fiber reinforced plastics under hygrothermal conditions

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP)laminates are widely used in aircrafts. The laminates are often assembled into components by adhesive joints, which will be affected by elevated temperature and humidity during use, resulting in performance degradation. In this study, a compression test of “Outer Single Lap” adhesive joints of CFRP on the rear fuselage of a certain type of navigable aircraft was carried out to investigate the influence of hygrothermal conditions on their performance. The experimental environment includes the elevated temperature and wet condition (ETW) (71 °C, 85%RH) and Room temperature drying (RTD) (23 %, 30%RH). The test results show that RTD specimens have different stages, and the initial stage has good plasticity and no damage. However, when the load reached 50 %, the initial opening pattern damage occurred, which eventually led to the failure of the 20° opening. Compared with RTD samples, the compression properties of ETW samples decreased by 47.7 %, and the opening damage disappeared. Fracture features and stain analysis were performed. The findings suggest the fracture characteristic can change from a brittle fracture to a ductile fracture in different testing conditions, and the influence of the humid and thermal environment on the resin structural adhesive layer itself, the compression state of the carbon fiber laminates, the interface between the carbon fiber laminates and the resin structural adhesive layer should be fully considered in the design.