Studying the thermoviscoelastic response of the Redux 312 adhesive—Part 1: Experimental characterization

The aim of this study is to investigate the thermoviscoelastic behaviour of the Redux 312 structural adhesive. Two types of tests are performed on bulk specimens: dynamic tests over a wide range of temperature and stress–relaxation tests for five temperatures ranging between −50 and 70 °C. Dynamic tests clearly show that the shear modulus of the adhesive decreases with temperature. The parameters governing the Maxwell model used to model the viscoelastic properties of the adhesive are identified with the curves obtained with the stress–relaxation tests for the five different temperatures. The procedure used to identify these parameters takes into account the evolution of these parameters with temperature. Results obtained are presented and discussed throughout the paper.