Strengthening of adhesive joints by dislocations

Abstract

Abstract It is demonstrated that an adhesive joint may be strengthened by introducing dislocations into the adhesive interface. Experimental lap shear joints have been made from rubber sheets, dislocations of the continuum type being manufactured at the interface. These dislocations were not investigated at the atomic level but were shown in strength tests to influence the force required to break the adhesive joint. The phenomenon has been explained theoretically by examining the mechanism of failure of lap joints, developing the Griffith model of rupture to describe such fracture and by applying this theory to the case of an adhesive joint containing interfacial dislocations.