Description
In industry, structural bonding can play an important role in repairing and reinforcing metallic structures. To ensure this, the design strategy for adhesively bonded joints should be selected carefully. One reliable method is to use fracture mechanics tests that allow the determination of fracture toughnesses in mode I, II or mixed-mode. Such strategy can be used during the analysis of the initial design, but also through the aging study. Several authors have carried out investigations on the evolution of fracture toughness following different environmental aging. Nevertheless, few studies were conducted to inspect the effect of applied load on the mechanical behavior of bonded joints. To fulfill this target, it is important to develop and validate experimental methodologies able to maintain constant loads during samples’ ageing. In addition, these samples need to be amenable to subsequent fracture mechanics testing. In this study, only mode II is considered by using the End Load Split (ELS) test. An adaptation of the sample’s geometry is required to allow the combination of both ELS and creep configurations. This paper aims to present this adaptation as well as the developed creep frame. The new sample configuration is compared to a traditional sample geometry, revealing both similarities and differences. An optical fiber is employed to monitor crack propagation, thereby enhancing this comparison.
