Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the fracture toughness and fracture behavior of the acrylic adhesive using DCB joints under Mode I loading. The DCB joints were fabricated by using the acrylic adhesive and adherends of steel, and the loading-unloading tests of these joints under Mode I loading were performed by an Instron testing machine according to the ASTM D3433-75 standard. The elastic-plastic fracture toughness J_<Ic> of the acrylic adhesive was also attempted to evaluate according to the JSME S001-1992 standard. The fracture toughness G_<Ic> showed a tendency to increase with increasing crack length, and the thicker the adhesive layer, the higher the fracture toughness G_<Ic>. On the other hand, the elastic-plastic fracture toughness J_<Ic> increased linearly with increasing crack extension, and the thicker the adhesive layer,the higher the crack extension resistance given by the slope of R-curve.
