Résumé
The unstable behavior and the uncompleted understanding of the adhesive failure is still a problem to be overcome for the adhesively bonded joints. Even though it hasn't been extensively studied, a specific three-point bending test (3PBT) created by Roche et al1. has proved to be useful in determining the critical force and displacement that relate to the bond strength (adherence) in terms of load or dissipated energy. However, the direct application experimental results of 3PBT allow only a qualitative assessment of the bond line. During the last few years, a new quantitative methodology2 based on the coupled stress-energy criterion3 and making use of the 3PBT has been successfully applied to determine the critical stress and the fracture toughness The determination of the critical stress and/or fracture toughness requires an important effort huge using semi-analytical or finite element analysis, since no reliable analytical approach is available to correlate the experimental results. For overcoming the previous issue, the present study provides a set of analytical equations for determining the stress distribution, validated with experimental and numerical analysis. In particular, an analytical expression for the interfacial energy release is suggested. It is developed following the works by Fraise and Schmit4 on the J-integral assessment of the sandwich-type overlap. It is dependent on the applied force and on a rotation, which could be measured experimentally.<br /><br /><br />