Multiaxial fatigue damage parameters and life prediction for adhesively bonded butt-joint based on the stress-based approach

The fatigue life evaluation of adhesively bonded joints has attracted more and more attention with its extensive application. Here, the fatigue experiments under various loading conditions were carried out to understand the stress amplitude, mean stress, cycle period, and loading path related to the fatigue life of the adhesively bonded tubular butt-joints. The experimental results showed that the fatigue life of the adhesively bonded butt-joint decreased with the increase of stress amplitude and mean stress, and the influence of cycle period on the fatigue life was more obvious since the mechanical property of the selected adhesive was rate dependent. Meanwhile, the fatigue life of the adhesively bonded butt-joint was influenced by the loading path under multiaxial loading conditions. In addition, the relationship between the damage parameters and fatigue life was characterized based on the experimental observations. Accordingly, a stress-based fatigue life prediction model was developed which can simultaneously consider multiple damage parameters related to fatigue life of the adhesively bonded joint. The predicted results indicated that the predicted life correlated well with the experimental data of the adhesively bonded joints.