Characterization of an adhesive bonding between continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composites and vulcanized rubber under a shear load

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study and to propose a methodology to test and characterize a bonding joint between rigid substrates made of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites (CFRTP) and over injected vulcanized rubber under a shear load. The EU agreed on a compromise to enforce stricter rules on CO2 emissions for the automotive industry, which has led cars manufactures to be focused in a lightweight car body policy by using CFRTP materials. Therefore, the behavior of the different kind of joints in these new materials has to be studied. The test defined in this paper is based on a single lap joint concept in which a shear load is applied to the sandwich sample in order to characterize the maximum loads and to analyze the different types of failures produced. The methodology defined has been applied on a wide range of test samples made of different element combinations in order to confirm that the methodology can be used as a generalized guideline to characterize all the variety of rubber-CFRTP bonding joints combinations regardless the materials and additives used.