Analyses of Stress Intensity Factors and Evaluation of Fracture Toughness in Adhesively Bonded DCB Joints

In this paper, an evaluation method of fracture toughness to apply interfacial fracture mechanics was investigated in adhesively bonded double-cantilever beam (DCB) joints. Four types of adhesively bonded DCB joints with an interface crack were prepared for analyses of the stress intensity factors using boundary element method(BEM) and the fracture toughness test. From the results of BEM analysis and fracture toughness experiments, it is found that the stress intensity factor, K1 is a parameter driving the fracture of adhesively bonded joints. Also, the evaluation method of fracture toughness by separated stress intensity factors of mixed mode cracks was proposed and the influences of mode components for its fracture toughness are investigated in adhesively bonded DCB joints.