Numerical analysis of the combined aging and fillet effect of the adhesive on the mechanical behavior of a single lap joint of type Aluminum/Aluminum

Bonded joints have proven their performance against conventional joining processes such as welding, riveting and bolting. The single-lap joint is the most widely used to characterize adhesive joints in tensile-shear loadings. However, the high stress concentrations in the adhesive joint due to the non-linearity of the applied loads generate a bending moment in the joint, resulting in high stresses at the adhesive edges. Geometric optimization of the bonded joint to reduce this high stress concentration prompted various researchers to perform geometric modifications of the adhesive and adherends at their free edges. Modifying both edges of the adhesive (spew) and the adherends (bevel) has proven to be an effective solution to reduce stresses at both edges and improve stress transfer at the inner part of the adhesive layer. The majority of research aimed at improving the geometry of the plate and adhesive edges has not considered the effect of temperature and water absorption in evaluating the strength of the joint. The objective of this work is to analyze, by the finite element method, the stress distribution in an adhesive joint between two 2024-T3 aluminum plates. The effects of the adhesive fillet and adherend bevel on the bonded joint stresses were taken into account. On the other hand, degradation of the mechanical properties of the adhesive following its exposure to moisture and temperature was found. The results clearly showed that the modification of the edges of the adhesive and of the bonding agent have an important role in the durability of the bond. Although the modification of the adhesive and bonding edges significantly improves the joint strength, the simultaneous exposure of the joint to temperature and moisture generates high stress concentrations in the adhesive joint that, in most cases, can easily reach the failure point of the material even at low applied stresses.