Mechanical Behavior of Butyl Adhesives

Abstract Butyl adhesives are widely used to bond elastomeric membranes. The results of uniaxial tension tests and simple shear tests conducted on bulk samples of butyl adhesives are presented in this paper. Butyl adhesives were found to have a rate-sensitive mechanical response with very low tensile and shear strengths. The stress-strain curves of the adhesive are characterized by an initial elastic response followed by a region of large plastic flow. A three-element viscoelastic model was used to model the stress-strain behavior of the adhesive. The model effectively combines a viscous dashpot and a network spring to capture the plastic flow in the material after the initial yield. The parameters of the model are calibrated to simulate a wide range of mechanical response of the adhesive.