Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review

Conventional adhesively bonded joints, such as single-lap, curved-lap, wavy-lap, double-lap, stepped-lap, and scarf joints, are widely used for aerospace, automotive, and medical applications. These adhesively bonded joints exhibit different load transfer mechanisms and stress distributions within a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Davaasambuu, Khishigdorj, Dong, Yu, Pramanik, Alokesh, Basak, A.K.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-477X/9/7/359
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/98068
_version_ 1848766356724383744
author Davaasambuu, Khishigdorj
Dong, Yu
Pramanik, Alokesh
Basak, A.K.
author_facet Davaasambuu, Khishigdorj
Dong, Yu
Pramanik, Alokesh
Basak, A.K.
author_sort Davaasambuu, Khishigdorj
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Conventional adhesively bonded joints, such as single-lap, curved-lap, wavy-lap, double-lap, stepped-lap, and scarf joints, are widely used for aerospace, automotive, and medical applications. These adhesively bonded joints exhibit different load transfer mechanisms and stress distributions within adhesive layers, which depend primarily on their geometries and mechanical properties of bonded materials. As such, joint geometry and material properties play a critical role in determining the capability of the joints to withstand high loads, resist fatigue, and absorb energy under impact loading. This paper investigates the effects of geometry and material dissimilarity on the performance of both conventional bonded and interlocking joints under tensile loading based on the information available in the literature. In addition, bonding and load transfer mechanisms were analysed in detail. It was found that stress concentration often occurs at free edges of the adhesive layer due to geometric discontinuities, while most of the load is carried by these regions rather than its centre. Sharp corners further intensify resulting stresses, thereby increasing the risk of joint failure. Adhesives typically resist shear loads better than peel loads, and stiffness mismatches between adherents induce an asymmetric stress distribution. Nonetheless, similar materials promote symmetric load sharing. Among conventional joints, scarf joints provide the most uniform load distribution. In interlocking joints such as dovetail, T-slot, gooseneck, and elliptical types, the outward bending of the female component under tension can lead to mechanical failure
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:49:51Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-98068
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:49:51Z
publishDate 2025
publisher MDPI
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-980682025-07-23T02:54:24Z Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review Davaasambuu, Khishigdorj Dong, Yu Pramanik, Alokesh Basak, A.K. adhesives interlocking composite joints stress distribution geometry dissimilarity Conventional adhesively bonded joints, such as single-lap, curved-lap, wavy-lap, double-lap, stepped-lap, and scarf joints, are widely used for aerospace, automotive, and medical applications. These adhesively bonded joints exhibit different load transfer mechanisms and stress distributions within adhesive layers, which depend primarily on their geometries and mechanical properties of bonded materials. As such, joint geometry and material properties play a critical role in determining the capability of the joints to withstand high loads, resist fatigue, and absorb energy under impact loading. This paper investigates the effects of geometry and material dissimilarity on the performance of both conventional bonded and interlocking joints under tensile loading based on the information available in the literature. In addition, bonding and load transfer mechanisms were analysed in detail. It was found that stress concentration often occurs at free edges of the adhesive layer due to geometric discontinuities, while most of the load is carried by these regions rather than its centre. Sharp corners further intensify resulting stresses, thereby increasing the risk of joint failure. Adhesives typically resist shear loads better than peel loads, and stiffness mismatches between adherents induce an asymmetric stress distribution. Nonetheless, similar materials promote symmetric load sharing. Among conventional joints, scarf joints provide the most uniform load distribution. In interlocking joints such as dovetail, T-slot, gooseneck, and elliptical types, the outward bending of the female component under tension can lead to mechanical failure 2025 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/98068 10.3390/jcs9070359 English https://www.mdpi.com/2504-477X/9/7/359 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI fulltext
spellingShingle adhesives
interlocking
composite joints
stress distribution
geometry
dissimilarity
Davaasambuu, Khishigdorj
Dong, Yu
Pramanik, Alokesh
Basak, A.K.
Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review
title Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review
title_full Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review
title_fullStr Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review
title_full_unstemmed Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review
title_short Mechanisms and Performance of Composite Joints Through Adhesive and Interlocking Means—A Review
title_sort mechanisms and performance of composite joints through adhesive and interlocking means—a review
topic adhesives
interlocking
composite joints
stress distribution
geometry
dissimilarity
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-477X/9/7/359
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/98068