Cohesive zone modeling of mode I fracture in adhesive bonded joints

This paper deals with the application of Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) concepts to study mode I fracture in adhesive bonded joints. In particular, an intrinsic piece-wise linear cohesive surface relation is used in order to model fracture in a pre-cracked bonded Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) specimen, Finite element implementation of the CZM is accomplished by means of the user element (UEL) feature available in the FE commercial code ABAQUS. The sensitivity of the cohesive zone parameters (i.e. fracture strength and critical energy release rate) in predicting the overall mechanical response is first examined; subsequently, cohesive parameters are tuned comparing numerical simulations of the load-displacement curve with experimental results retrieved from literature.