Safety of adhesively bonded joints under detrimental service conditions

Durability and safety of adhesively bonded joints are of major importance in structural applications. The probability of failure of a bonded assembly after a certain period of time may be influenced by various aging effects including e.g. temperature and humidity. The correlation of results obtained from accelerated laboratory aging tests to long-term aging under service conditions often remains an unsolved challenge. In the present work, computer-based tools for non-linear regression analysis, estimation of reliability and lifetime prediction have been applied to experimental results obtained by accelerated aging of adhesively bonded shear specimens. Results obtained with an epoxy based adhesive and a hot-dipped galvanized steel as adherend are discussed. The modeling of the aging behavior is performed with combined functions referring to the EYRING as well as the PECK model which both appear appropriate for describing the experimental data. The safety prediction, based on the probability of failure as well as the safety factor β, is performed by using the EYRING model which fits the experimental data in a more conservative manner.