Analysis of the fracture process zone and effective crack length in the adhesively bonded end-notched flexure specimen

Abstract

The mode II fracture of adhesive joints is well-known to involve large fracture process zones. Their effect in fracture energy measurements can be taken into account by the effective crack length approach. Moreover, fracture process zones can be simulated by cohesive zone models, which are increasingly used for structural analysis of adhesive joints. This paper aimed at evaluating the influence of the traction-separation law on the fracture process zone and on the effective crack length in end-notched flexure tests. Novel analytical cohesive zone models were developed for the bilinear and trapezoidal traction-separation laws. The latter were shown to affect significantly the energy dissipation rate versus effective crack length curve prior to crack initiation. Therefore, this effect seems to provide a simple approach for evaluating approximate traction-separation laws. The models here developed are easy to apply and provide simple approximate expressions useful for specimen selection.