Determination of the fracture envelope of an adhesive joint as a function of moisture.

Adhesive joints in the transportation industry may be exposed to aggressive environments such as humidity during their service life, which may influence their reliability. This research aims to determine the fracture toughness of aluminium bonded joints under pure mode I, pure mode II and mixed mode I and II loadings in dry and wet condition, with the main purpose to predict the influence of humidity in the toughness properties of an adhesive. It was found that water does influence the fracture mechanics properties, increasing mode I fracture toughness and decreasing mode II fracture toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]