Characteristics of Interfacial Strength of Aluminum Alloy and Epoxy Resin Subjected to Cyclic Loading

Abstract Direct bonding of metal-resin plays a critical role in jointing of dissimilar materials and the adhesion strength is known to be dependent on strain rate (loading rate) due to the strain rate sensitivity of polymeric resin. This study evaluated adhesion strength and adhesion durability against repetitive loading for the interface between aluminum alloy and epoxy resin. For experiment, a pulsed YAG laser was used to generate strong elastic waves, resulting in interfacial fracture. This method is called Laser Shock Adhesion Test (LaSAT), which enables us to evaluate impact strength of interfacial fracture. This study prepared two types of specimens with different curing temperature (20°C and 100°C). It is found that the specimen with higher temperature curing shows larger adhesion strength. Subsequently, repetitive LaSAT experiments (cyclic loading tests) were conducted to evaluate adhesion durability. This reveals that adhesion strength showed cyclic fatigue characteristics and higher curing temperature improves fatigue strength. To elucidate this mechanism at molecular level, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was conducted for the interfacial material with epoxy resin. This study created all-atomistic model of Al2O3/epoxy resin interface, and repetitive tensile deformation was applied until delamination. It is found that the number of loading cycles to delamination was increased when the applied tensile stress was lower. It is also found that the 400K curing model showed larger adhesion strength than that of the 300K curing model. This trend is very similar with the results of LaSAT experiments. Our comprehensive study with LaSAT experiments and MD simulations evaluates adhesion strength of Al/epoxy interface and reveals its fracture mechanism.

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Microstructure and mechanical properties of an ultrasonic spot welded aluminum alloy: the effect of welding energy

10.32920/14640153.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

He Peng ◽

Daolun Chen ◽

Xianquan Jiang

Keyword(s):

Shear Strength ◽

Aluminum Alloy ◽

Cyclic Loading ◽

Crack Growth ◽

Failure Mode ◽

Spot Welding ◽

Energy Levels ◽

Lap Shear Strength ◽

Pull Out ◽

Lap Shear

The aim of this study is to evaluate the microstructures, tensile lap shear strength, and fatigue resistance of 6022-T43 aluminum alloy joints welded via a solid-state welding technique–ultrasonic spot welding (USW)–at different energy levels. An ultra-fine necklace-like equiaxed grain structure is observed along the weld line due to the occurrence of dynamic crystallization, with smaller grain sizes at lower levels of welding energy. The tensile lap shear strength, failure energy, and critical stress intensity of the welded joints first increase, reach their maximum values, and then decrease with increasing welding energy. The tensile lap shear failure mode changes from interfacial fracture at lower energy levels, to nugget pull-out at intermediate optimal energy levels, and to transverse through-thickness (TTT) crack growth at higher energy levels. The fatigue life is longer for the joints welded at an energy of 1400 J than 2000 J at higher cyclic loading levels. The fatigue failure mode changes from nugget pull-out to TTT crack growth with decreasing cyclic loading for the joints welded at 1400 J, while TTT crack growth mode remains at all cyclic loading levels for the joints welded at 2000 J. Fatigue crack basically initiates from the nugget edge, and propagates with “river-flow” patterns and characteristic fatigue striations. Keywords: aluminum alloy; ultrasonic spot welding; EBSD; microstructure; tensile strength; fatigue

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