Temperature dependence of the shear strength in adhesively bonded joints reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

Highlights • The temperature affected the improving effect of MWCNTs on adhesive joints. • Increasing the testing temperature diminished the improving effect of MWCNTs. • The optimum MWCNT wt% was found to be dependent on the testing temperature. • A mathematical model was proposed to clarify the interactions of the factors. Abstract In this paper, the temperature dependence of the strength of adhesively bonded shear lap joint reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was studied. The results showed that increasing the testing temperature diminished the improving effect of MWCNTs to the extent that beyond a critical temperature, adding nanofillers even degraded the shear strength of adhesive joints. Furthermore, using a proposed mathematical model, the optimum MWCNT weight percentages for the MWCNT-reinforced adhesives tested under different temperatures were obtained. Moreover, the scanning electron microscopy technique was used to determine the running micro-mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]