Energetic evaluation of tubular adhesive joints: adherend material effect

Adhesive joints are widely employed due to their advantages over traditional joining methods such as welding and bolting. Among different configurations, overlap tubular adhesive joints are formed by inserting a smaller-diameter tube into a larger one, which are bonded to provide a solution with attractive strength-to-weight ratio, stress distribution, and corrosion resistance. This study numerically evaluates the performance of overlap tubular joints by comparing three adherend materials and analyzing the effect of overlap length ( L O ). A numerical approach based on Cohesive Zone Models (CZM) was used and initially validated against experimental data. The results demonstrated that both the adherend and adhesive stiffness significantly impact joint strength. The highest tensile strength was observed in joints using DIN 55Si7 steel adherends bonded with the Araldite® AV138 adhesive.