Experimental analysis of the behavior of adhesively bonded joints under tensile/compression–shear cyclic loadings

Adhesive bonding is an interesting structural assembling technique which requires accurate numerical models in order to optimize the design of high-tech applications. In this paper, following the strategy previously developed for monotonic loadings, crack initiation in adhesively-bonded joints, under various tensile/compression–shear cyclic loadings is analyzed using a modified Arcan device with a single bonded joint designed to strongly limit stress concentrations. Moreover, such a system is associated with the maximum stress state in the center of the adhesive, and thus, allows the analysis of some influences of the stress triaxiality. Experimental results, for a ductile adhesive, under cyclic loadings are presented for different load amplitudes and mean loads; they underline that the evolutions of viscous deformations and of damage depend on the loading type.