Experimental Creep Analysis of a Single‐Strap Adhesive Joint Reinforced by Shape Memory Alloys

The mechanical properties of adhesive joints are very sensitive to temperature condition and the joints which are designed to be subjected to high temperature lose their strength. Therefore, the improvement of the adhesive joints thermal resistance is highly desired. In this study, the creep phenomenon in an adhesive joint is considered and the effect of reinforcing the adhesive joint by shape memory alloys (SMA) on the creep behavior and lifetime of the joint is studied experimentally. For this purpose, a single‐strap adhesive joint is reinforced by SMA and the reinforcement is in the form of wires. The epoxy used in the adhesive joint is Araldite 2015 and 6 wires of NiTi shape memory wires with the volume fraction of approximately 2% are embedded by the adhesive. The creep test is conducted at the temperature of 135°C which is above the glass transition temperature of the adhesive. Using the SMA wires, the results showed approximately 35% increase in the adhesive joint creep lifetime. The detailed results and discussion is presented in the full length paper.