Modelling adhesively-bonded T-joints by a meshless method

Bonding of non-parallel substrates has many applications in the transport industry. Adhesively-bonded T-joints are employed for that purpose. However, geometrical dimensions, substrates’ shape and material choices are broad. The effect that varying upper substrate thickness has on the joint strength (P max ) was investigated in this work through numerical analyses. The numerical analysis was performed using a meshless method, the natural neighbour radial point interpolation method (NNRPIM), which has been proven accurate and robust in another adhesive joint configuration. Materials were considered elastic-plastic. A yield criterion developed for rubber-like materials, the Exponent Drucker-Prager, was used for the adhesive layer, while the metallic substrates were analysed with the von Mises yield criterion. P max was determined numerically using a strain-based continuum mechanics failure criterion. Normalised peel and shear stress distributions along the bond-line are presented. Effective strains, both elastic and plastic, were also obtained. The estimated P max was compared with experimental data; a good agreement was found. The stress distribution along the bond line becomes asymmetric in joints with unbalanced substrate thicknesses. At P max , from 10 to 25% of the bond-line has entered into plastic regime. The results indicate that the proposed methodology is suitable to analyse adhesively-bonded joints under different load solicitations.