Analysis of deformations and stresses in balanced and unbalanced adhesively bonded single-strap joints

Adhesively bonded joints are increasingly being used in joining various structural components. Adequate understanding of the behaviour of adhesively bonded joints is necessary to ensure efficiency, safety and reliability of such joints. While several joint configurations, such as the single- and double-lap joints have received considerable consideration, the single-strap joint configuration has received little attention, partly because earlier studies have shown it to be the least efficient. One of the objectives of this paper is to demonstrate that strap joints can be as efficient as lap joints, as long as they are properly designed. This will be done through a detailed analytical investigation into influence of the parameters that govern peak stresses in the adhesive. The next objective is to produce simple equations by which the design of strap joint could be facilitated in an effective manner. For this. the developed analytical expressions are simplified and shown to provide accurate results. The derived solutions provide better insight into understanding the parameters that most influence the edge forces. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.