Fracture characteristics of mixed-mode toughness of dissimilar adherends (cohesive and interfacial fracture)

This paper investigates the fracture behavior of aluminum/polymer dissimilar adhesively bonded joints at different mixed-mode ratios. For this purpose, a series of experiments were carried out using a modified Arcan fixture to obtain critical fracture load in mode I, mode II and mixed-mode, for two types of cohesive and interface starter cracks. Experimental data, along with the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) were employed to extract the...