Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

The effects of heterogeneities (weak zones in particular) inadhesive joints and their importance on overall fracture propertiesare relatively unknown, but doubtlessly they may be crucial inmany applications. Using a model heterogeneous adhesive bond,represented by a given mixture of regions of strong and weakadhesion, we have studied the influence of interface variabilityon overall fracture energy (global energy release rate). Adoptingthe original Griffith-Irwin arguments, we have employed a simple,fracture scaling law. By varying relative proportions of the weakand strong interfaces, a nonlinear evolution of fracture energywas observed. This was contrary to expectations, cf. rules ofmixtures. Inspired by rheological models (Maxwell, Voigt=Kelvin,etc.), an appropriate model was found empirically.

Authors

• Michal Budzik,
• Julien Jumel,
• Martin Shanahan