Stress and stiffness analysis of weld-bonded box section beams subjected to bending moment

Stresses and stiffnesses of weld-bonded box section beams subjected to bending moments have been studied analytically. The influences of spot-welded spaces, Young's modulus and thickness of the adhesives on the stress distributions and the bending rigidities were investigated analytically and experimentally. Maximum shear stresses in the adhesives occur at the inner edge of adhesive layers and decrease with decrease of Young's modulus of the adhesives. The analytical results were consistent with the results of FEM and experiments.