Comparison of failure mechanisms between rubber-modified and unmodified epoxy adhesives under mode II loading condition

The effect of rubber modification on fracture toughness of adhesive joints under mode II loading condition was investigated in comparison with that under mode I loading, wherein the two adhesives rubber-modified and unmodified were used. To evaluate the fracture toughness on the basis of R-curve characteristics under mode II loading condition, four-point bend tests had been conducted for the adhesively bonded end-notched flexure (ENF) specimens. Thus obtained R-curves revealed the following trend: its behavior did not appear for the unmodified adhesive, whereas the rubber-modified adhesive exhibited a typical behavior. In the initial stage of crack propagation, GIIC of the rubber-modified adhesive is lower than that of the unmodified adhesive, but becomes greater in the range of Δa > 25 mm. Nevertheless, the significant improvement of the fracture toughness with the rubber modification under mode I loading condition was not observed under mode II loading. Moreover, FEM analysis was made to elucidate the relation between the above fracture behavior and stress distributions near the crack tip. The results gave the reasonable relationship between evolution of plastic zone and the area with high void-fraction as well as the R-curves behavior. In addition, macroscopic and SEM observations for the fracture surfaces were also conducted.