Enhanced mode II fracture toughness of secondary bonded joints using tailored sacrificial cracks inside the adhesive

The mode II fracture toughness of secondary bonded joints can be improved by creating tailored sacrificial cracks inside the adhesive. To this end, we inserted a PTFE film inside the adhesive bondline during the bonding process to create sacrificial cracks inside the adhesive. We demonstrated the efficiency of this technique through ENF tests that characterize mode II fracture toughness of adhesive-bonded CFRP adherends. We ascribed the...