Investigating the fracture behavior of adhesively bonded metallic joints using the Arcan fixture

In the present study, the fracture behavior of a crash optimized adhesive was examined by means of the Arcan fixture. The specimens were prepared using aluminum substrates and two pre-cracks (one per each extremity of the joint) were created. The section of the substrates has been specially designed to stabilize crack propagation. The thickness of the adhesive layer was fixed at 0.5 mm. The tests were performed in the mixed mode I/II plane and under compression/shear load, at a speed of 0.5 mm/min. To avoid measuring the crack length during the experiments, an alternative methodology to calculate the fracture toughness is proposed. The results are in good accordance with previously published data on the same adhesive using "classical" TDCB (Tapered Double Cantilever Beam) and MMB (Mixed Mode Bending) tests. The influence of compression/shear loading on the fracture properties of the joint is also discussed.