Strength of epoxy adhesive-bonded stainless-steel joints

The strength of stainless-steel joints bonded with two epoxy adhesives was investigated. The experimental programme included tests on single-lap and butt joints, as well as thick-adherend and napkin ring shear tests. Results suggested that the tensile and shear strengths of the epoxy adhesives were quite similar. However, finite element (FE) analyses raised doubts on the true adhesive strengths, due to the complex stress state in joint tests and pressure-dependent adhesive behaviour. In spite of some uncertainties, FE analyses showed that failure could be fairly well predicted by a maximum shear strain criterion.