In this work, an elastic-plastic thermal and residual stress analysis were performed for adhesively bonded single lap joint. For this purpose, thermoplastic composite adherents were bonded to each other with epoxy adhesive. Thermoplastic composite material was reinforced by steel-fibres, unidirectionally. Finite element method (FEM) was preferred to obtain thermal elastic and elastic-plastic stress distributions on single lap joint. Accordingly, modelling and solution processes were achieved using ANSYS software. So as to determine effects of uniform temperature loadings on thermal and residual stresses, different values of it were loaded on the joint, uniformly. Briefly, both thermal and residual thermal stresses were calculated under uniform temperature loading which was selected from 40 °C to 80 °C. According to obtained results different thermal expansion coefficients of composite adherents and adhesive layer caused thermal and residual stresses on adhesively bonded single lap joint due to applied uniform temperature loadings. Thermal stress values for x and y-directions are very different from each other owing to orthotropic material properties of thermoplastic composite. The magnitudes of elastic analyses results are higher than elastic-plastic analysis results. Contrary to elastic analysis results, elastic-plastic analysis results were nonlinear. Thermal and residual stresses are increased by increasing uniform temperature values, so the highest values were calculated when 80 °C. The plastic yielding was firstly come into being for 50 °C loading and it is expanded related to raising thermal loadings as nonlinear.
