The influence of adhesive constitutive parameters in cohesive zone finite element models of adhesively bonded joints

The influence of adhesive parameters on the outcome of cohesive zone finite element simulations is reported. The simulations are of adhesively bonded joint configurations that are used to characterize joint performance (including the double cantilever beam, the end notch flexure, and the single lap joint). The coupon level experiments are often used individually to determine a single parameter in an adhesive constitutive model (such as a cohesive strength or toughness). In this study, the influence of strength, toughness, and other parameters are considered simultaneously in examining their effect on the finite element (FE) output for each test. In specifying input parameters, the assumed shape of the cohesive traction law is also considered. It is shown that the double cantilever beam model output is dependent primarily on one parameter, whereas the end notch flexure and single lap joint models are dependent on multiple adhesive parameters. By extension, these dependencies require consideration when mapping the results of physical experiments into a set of adhesive model inputs. It is also shown that the shape of the traction law appears insignificant to the outcome of the models. Sensitivities to input parameters are illuminated through kriging analysis of the finite element results; the parameter values are chosen via Latin hypercube sampling. Surrogate models are created and are used to quantify the sensitivities. A mapping technique is described for evaluating the output of physical tests. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.