Stress analysis at the interface in adhesive joints by special finite elements

Various special mixed finite elements for the static analysis of stresses at the interface in adhesive joints are presented. These finite elements take into account all the continuity conditions by including transverse stresses as variables at interface nodes. They give a high precision of results with small numbers of finite elements. The analysis is applied to an adhesive-bonded butt joint: the influence of geometrical and material parameters on the interfacial stress distribution is reported, and the accuracy of the method is assessed by comparison of these results with those of other numerical solutions.