A model of an adhesively bonded joint with elastic–plastic adherends and a softening adhesive

This paper deals with the generalization of a model of an adhesively bonded joint with the aim to allow elastic–plastic adherends. In the model of the joint that we extend, the thinness of the bodies and the low Young’s modulus of the adhesive were used to obtain a simplified model where the parts are described as material surfaces. We formulate an elastic–plastic material model with isotropic hardening expressed in the generalized stress and strain measures used for the surface description of the joint. The finite element formulation and the numerical treatment of the constitutive law are discussed. Numerical results showing the accuracy of the proposed treatment of the adherends are presented. Two failure load computations, using a softening material model for the adhesive, are presented and compared with experiments. The results show the importance of taking into account potential plastic deformations in the adherends in failure load computations.