Proposal of a Failure Criterion of Adhesively Bonded Connections with Silicone

Doctoral thesis (2017)

In the field of façade engineering, structural silicone sealants have been used in adhesively bonded connections since the 1960s. The low strength and stiffness of silicone rubber compared to other types ... [more ▼]

In the field of façade engineering, structural silicone sealants have been used in adhesively bonded connections since the 1960s. The low strength and stiffness of silicone rubber compared to other types of adhesives are compensated by the excellent adhesion properties and the good resistance against ageing and environmental influences, like UV radiation. Silicone sealants show a pronounced nonlinear material behaviour. The applicable design concepts in civil engineering propose simplified design equations, which are based on the assumption of a linear material law. Due to the current state of knowledge and to compensate the simplified model assumptions in the design concept, high reduction factors on the material strength and many restrictions on applications are defined. In order to overcome these drawbacks, the stress state within the sealant is increasingly described using the Finite Element Method. Considering the results of these analysis, the assessment of both the complex stress states with a suitable failure criterion and the influence of stress singularities on the failure behaviour constitute inevitable questions. The present work addresses these two questions. In the first step, the strain magnitude has been determined as a suitable failure criterion for the defect-free bulk material of the considered Dow Corning® 993 structural silicone sealant, subjected to a quasi-static loading. The failure criterion has been calibrated using the results of uniaxial tension as well as circular shear tests and validated with the results of compression tests. The strain magnitude is a strain-based failure criterion, which can be seen as a measure for the distortion of the molecular chains. In a second step, the stress distribution of the single-lap shear joint has been investigated in detail. For the assessment of the singular stresses and strains at the edge area of the interface between the adhesive and the substrate, referred to as two-material wedge, the so-called coupled stress and energy criterion, a concept of Finite Fracture Mechanics, was extended to nonlinear elastic material behaviour. Based on results of conduced simple shear tests on small bonded connections with varying adhesive thicknesses and overlap lengths, the coupled criterion was used to predict the crack initiation loads and a good agreement with the experimentally recorded values was obtained. Knowing the strength and the critical energy release rate of the material, the crack initiation load and the corresponding crack length are determined in the coupled criterion by solving an optimisation problem based on a Finite Element Analysis. The stress partial criterion has been modified to consider the strain magnitude as a failure criterion. In order to analyse the energy partial criterion, the critical energy release rate of Dow Corning® 993 structural silicone sealant has been determined in Double Cantilever Beam tests using the evaluation method based on the J-integral approach. Furthermore, concepts of the Theory of Critical Distances were used to determine the failure loads of the small scale tests. Unlike as for the notched circular shear tests and the tension tests on small scale bonded connections, good predictions were found in the Finite Element Analysis for the simple shear specimens, when a constant element size and formulation at the vicinity of the two-material wedge were used. Similar results were obtained with the point method and the control volume approach. These findings indicate that the characteristic material length for silicone rubber is not constant. [less ▲]

Numerical simulation and Identification of the Failure Criterion for Structural Silicone

Speeches/Talks (2016)

In civil engineering, silicone sealants are widely used in structural sealant glazing applications as an adhesively bonded connection between the glass panels and the building substructure. The current ... [more ▼]

In civil engineering, silicone sealants are widely used in structural sealant glazing applications as an adhesively bonded connection between the glass panels and the building substructure. The current design concept does not take into account the actual stress state and the actual failure mechanism. Therefore, no information about the exact failure probability can be given. Alternative approaches, such as the Finite Element Analysis, also have major disadvantages due to the presence of singularities. Therefore, a method from Finite Fracture Mechanics, calibrated with experimental investigations on bulk material, is applied on silicone sealants, focusing on the shear failure mechanism. The procedure is validated using small scale tests such as simple shear and torsion tests. [less ▲]

Investigation of the material behaviour of bonded connections with silicone

in Schneider, Jens; Weller, Bernhard (Eds.) engineered transparency. International Conference at glasstec - Glass | Facade | Energy (2014)