Prediction and Measurement of Residual Strains for a Composite Bonded Joint

A quasi-isotropic composite laminate/adherend of IM6/3501-6 and a composite bonded specimen were manufactured and tested. The bonded specimen was fabricated by postbonding composite adherends together using a 177°C adhesive resin. Predictions for the residual curing strains in the composite adherends and the adhesively bonded composite specimen were performed using a thermomechanical linearly elastic analysis. The analysis was performed using a computer program based on a polynomial spline displacement approximation method 1]. The residual strains of the specimens were measured using the moiré interferometry technique. Diffraction gratings were replicated at room temperature onto the edges of polished laminated adherends and on the edge of a fully cured adhesively bonded specimen. The specimens were cut through their entire thickness in the middle of the diffraction grating area, resulting in a redistribution of the residual curing stresses, with corresponding changes in the strain field at the edges of the cut. A full-field deformation pattern was obtained in the grating area by analyzing the recorded fringe patterns. The deformation field induced by the cut in the laminated adherends and the adhesive bondline were estimated by the linear thermomechanical analysis. A good agreement between the analysis and the experimental results was obtained.