Predicting fatigue damage in adhesively bonded joints using a cohesive zone model

A reliable numerical damage model has been developed for adhesively bonded joints under fatigue loading that is only dependant on the adhesive system and not on joint configuration. A bi-linear traction–separation description of a cohesive zone model was employed to simulate progressive damage in the adhesively bonded joints. Furthermore, a strain-based fatigue damage model was integrated with the cohesive zone model to simulate the deleterious...