Reference: E.P. O'Brien and C.C. White, submitted to the International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives (2005).
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Emmett P. O'BrienA,B and Christopher C. WhiteA
ANational Institute of Standards and Technology,
Buildings and Fire Research Laboratory
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
B
Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USATo whom correspondence should be addressed: Email: emmett.obrien@nist.gov
Subcritical adhesion testing is of practical interest to engineers and scientists because it enables the study of the mechanisms underlying adhesive failure while closely simulating failure mechanisms and time scales occurring during service. Furthermore, the results from these types of experiments provide engineers with parameters for designing adhesive joints and coatings. Traditionally, subcritical fracture test specimens have been triple-layered laminated beams, where the adhesive is bonded between two rectangular rigid adherends. An example of this type of test specimen is the well known double cantilever beam wedge (DCB) test. Recently, the shaft-loaded blister test (SLBT) was shown to be an alternative method for subcritical adhesion testing of adhesive coatings (O'Brien et. al. J. of Adhesion 2005). In this work, the pros and cons of the SLBT and DCB tests for Subcritical adhesive fracture testing are discussed. As an example, we investigate the effects of moisture on the crack growth between an epoxy and a glass substrate.