The effects of adhesive nonlinearity on thermal stress in layered components

Interlaminar stresses near the free edge of a multi-layered structure under thermal and mechanical loads are significantly affected by nonlinear and inelastic material properties. Most previous studies of the subject ignored such effects and obtained singular or extremely severe and localized stress fields in boundary regions based strictly on the assumption of linearly elastic stress-strain relation. In the present paper, a variational method, using approximate stress functions and the principle of complementary energy, is developed to study the thermal stress in a three-layer beam including a thin, compliant, non-linearly elastic middle layer. It is found that the elastic softening behavior of the thin layer results in dispersion of the interlaminar stresses and widening of the boundary region. Hence the use of toughened, compliant bonding layers may produce a beneficial effect by alleviating local concentration of interlaminar stresses.