Numerical modelling of bond shear stress slip behavior of CFRP/steel composites cured and tested at elevated temperature

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical model developed to predict the bond characteristics of CFRP/steel composites cured under different curing conditions and their behaviour at elevated temperatures. The measured material properties and their degradation with the temperature exposure were considered. The predicted bond performance was in a good agreement with the test results. The strain variation in the CFRP sheet was used to develop the bond shear stress-slip variations. Parametric studies were also conducted to evaluate the effects of bond line parameters on the bond shear stress-slip relationship at elevated temperature. The results indicate that the maximum bond shear stress of the joint lies in the range between 25 MPa and 28 MPa at ambient conditions, irrespective of the curing type. A rapid decrease in the maximum bond shear stress appears with exposure to the elevated temperature. Maximum shear stress reaches 10 MPa when the bond line temperature exceeds 90 °C. The elevated temperature curing, exposed temperature during service and the bond thickness notably affects on the bond slip behavior.