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The Effect of Peel Stress on the Strength of Adhesively Bonded Joints

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1555

Composite wind turbine blades are often attached to a metallic structure with an adhesive bond. The objective of this investigation is to determine which parameters affect the durability of these adhesively bonded joints. The composite-to-steel joint considered in this study typically fails when the adhesive debonds from the steel adherend. Previously, this joint was monotonically loaded in either compression or tension. Compressive and tensile axial loads of the same magnitude produce adhesive stresses with very similar magnitudes but opposite signs. (For the joint considered, tensile loads produce compressive peeh stresses in the adhesive at the location where debonding initiates.) The tensile specimens failed at much higher loads, establishing that the sign of the adhesive peel stresses strongly influences the single-cycle strength of these joints. Building on this earlier work, this study demonstrates that the adhesive peel stresses are also critical for fatigue loading. The results of low-cycle (axial) and high- cycle (bending) fatigue tests are presented. To complement the test results, finite element analyses demonstrate the localized nature of the peel stresses that develop in the adhesive. In addition, these analyses are used to investigate some of the causes of these peel stresses.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1555
Report Number(s):
SAND98-1185C; ON: DE00001555
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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