Fracture initiation in bi-material joints subject to combined tension and shear loading

Linear elastic solution of the stress field near an interface corner of bi-material joints is of the form Hr^(lamda-1), where r is the radial distance from the corner, H is the stress intensity factor and (lamda-1) is the order of the singularity. Finite element analysis is used to determine the magnitude of H for a butt joint subject to remote shear; the obtained solution complements existing solution for remote tension and uniform change in temperature. The theoretical solution of the singular shear stress is shown to be in good agreement with the corresponding finite element solution. The effect of combined remote tension, remote shear and uniform change in temperature on the failure loads and failure mechanisms is experimentally determined for brass/araldite/brass butt joint. It is shown that the failure envelope in tensile stress – shear stress space is elliptical and the failure loads decrease with increasing cure temperature due to thermal residual stress associated with the curing process. The application of the results to the assessment of onset of failure in composite patch repair is discussed.