Stress analysis and strength of adhesive lap joint of shafts subjected to tensile loads

The stress distributions in adhesive lap joints have been analyzed using an elastoplastic finite element method where two hollow shafts of different materials were bonded by an adhesive at an overlap length and subjected to tensile loads. The effects of Young's modulus of the hollow shafts and the overlap length on the stress distribution at the interfaces between an inner hollow shaft and an adhesive, and an outer hollow shaft and the adhesive in the axial direction have been clarified by FEM analyses. Then a method for predicting joint strength has been proposed using the interface stress distributions. Moreover the tensile strengths of the adhesive lap joints of the hollow shafts composed of different materials, carbon steel and aluminum alloy were measured and compared with the values obtained from the prediction method. As a result, the joint strengths can be evaluated using the prediction method within an error of -15% of the rest results in all combinations of the shafts.