Assessment of the quality of adhesive bond in t-joints coupons by using thermoelastic stress analysis

Adhesively bonded joints represent an interesting alternative to mechanical joints due to the advantages over conventional mechanical fasteners: continuity of the structure, high strength-to-weight ratio, design flexibility. The aim of this work is to assess and predict the quality of aeronautical adhesive bonded CFRP T-joints made by the automated fibre placement process by means of the Thermoelastic Stress analysis (TSA) technique used as non-destructive technique. The results provided by TSA technique, in terms of debonded area, were compared to the well-established lock-in thermography technique showing the capability of TSA to evaluate the quality of T-joints. The approach allows to perform a cost-efficient characterisation process by means of non-destructive evaluations.