Shear Property Measurements of Adhesives in Composite Material Bonded Joints

A test specimen has been designed and procedures developed for determining the effective shear modulus, shear proportional limit, and ultimate shear strength for adhesive materials used in bonded lap joints between adherends of either metals or composite materials. By utilizing adhesives in their joint geometry, effects of errors from using bulk property data are avoided. Surface interaction phenomena between adhesive and adherend, surface roughness effects, etc. are automatically included.

Test data to date are presented for adherends of 1002 S-glass uniply and angleply construction, and Hysol EA951 adhesive. Effects of adhesive thickness and joint length are also presented.