Studying Effects of Arc Discharge Surface Texturing on Stress Distribution in Adhesively Bonded Joints by Using Finite Element Modeling

This study investigates the potentiality of using atmospheric-pressure Direct Current (DC) plasma arc discharge as a surface treatment method of aluminum alloys in adhesively bonded joints in order to enhance adhesion. The surface morphology exposed to the arc for the current of 40 A (low intensity) and the plasma torch scanning speeds between 20 and 120 mm/s, exhibits a micro-scale surface roughness appropriate for adhesive bonding. The arc textured surfaces are characterized by using an optical profilometer. Additionally, the effect of modified surface on the stress distribution throughout the single-lap adhesively bonded joint in tension is explored by 2D FEM. The geometrical model for FE analysis of adhesively bonded structure is generated by including the surface texture coordinates obtained from the optical profilometer.