Fatigue Life Estimation of Adhesively Bonded Scarf Joints Based on a Continuum Damage Mechanics Model

An estimation method of fatigue strength of adhesively bonded joints with various stress triaxialities in the adhesive layer has been proposed based on a damage evolution model for high cycle fatigue. To realize various triaxial stress states, fatigue test was conducted for adhesively bonded butt and scarf joints with various scarf angles bonded by a rubber-modified epoxy adhesive. An equation for estimating the damage evolution in the adhesive layer of the butt and scarf joints was derived from the damage model, where undefined parameters in the equation were determined by comparing the experimentally obtained damage evolution curves of the butt joints with the estimated damage evolution curves. Furthermore, an equation for the estimation of fatigue strength was derived under the assumption that fatigue failure occurs when the damage variable reaches to a critical value. When compared the experimental S-N data of scarf joints with the estimated ones, the estimated fatigue strengths agree well with the experimental data with various scarf angles. This finding suggests that the CDM model is applicable for estimating fatigue strength of adhesively bonded joints with different stress triaxialities.