A realistic material model of adhesives is essential for a verification concept for structural adhesive bonds. With the increasing accuracy of the simulation results of a meaningful FE model, it is possible to avoid excessively high safety factors and bonded supporting structures can be measured economically. A comprehensive adhesive model, which was created taking into account experimentally determined material characteristics, makes an important contribution in bringing together research and industry in the development of an innovative joining process. © 2018 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.