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Interfacial toughness: dependence on surface roughness and test temperature

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Abstract

Interfacial toughness quantifies resistance to crack growth along an interface and in this investigation the toughness of an aluminum/epoxy interface was measured as a function of surface roughness and test temperature. The large strain response of the relatively ductile epoxy adhesive used in this study was also characterized. This epoxy adhesive exhibits intrinsic strain-softening after initial compressive yield and then deforms plastically at a roughly constant flow stress until it rapidly hardens at large compressive strains. We find that interface toughness scales as the product of the temperature dependent epoxy yield strength and a length scale that characterizes surface roughness. The proposed scaling is based upon dimensional considerations of a model problem that assumes that the characteristic length scale of both the roughness and the crack-tip yield zone is small relative to the region dominated by the linear elastic asymptotic crack-tip stress field. Furthermore, the model assumes that interfacial failure occurs only after the epoxy begins to harden at large strains. The proposed relationship is validated by our interfacial toughness measurements.

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Acknowledgements

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. This paper describes objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.

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  1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    E. D. Reedy Jr. & M. E. Stavig

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  1. E. D. Reedy Jr.
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  2. M. E. Stavig
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Correspondence to E. D. Reedy Jr..

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Reedy, E.D., Stavig, M.E. Interfacial toughness: dependence on surface roughness and test temperature. Int J Fract 222, 1–12 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-019-00419-0

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