Abstract: With the development of automobile lightweight technology, the structural adhesion technique is being widely adopted in the connecting process of dissimilar materials in vehicle body. An experimental-numerical approach is developed to investigate the influence of cyclic-temperature environment on adhesive joints. The finite element model is set up to evaluate the degradation process in the adhesive joints through ABAQUS software and the peel and shear stress states in the adhesive layer are analyzed through cohesive zone modeling. Carefully designed experiment is carried out to validate the simulation results and help the numerical procedure to predict joint mechanical behavior after environmental exposure. The scanning electron microscopy is performed on the failure surface to investigate the micro fracture mechanisms in the adhesive layer.

Key words: Automobile lightweight, Cohesive zone model, Environmental degradation, Finite element modeling, Structural adhesion technique