Validation of an Hcr-based fracture initiation criterion for adhesively bonded joints

The singular stress fields that develop around wedges found in adhesively bonded scarf and double lap joint configurations are fully determined by employing Williams’ eigenfunction expansion method in combination with a path independent contour integral method. The intensities of the near-tip stress fields (H) are then used as fracture initiation parameters in order to predict the strengths of these joints. The predicted strengths are compared to experimental results found in literature and the conditions for the validity of the proposed Hcr-based fracture initiation criterion are examined.