On the design of unconventional testing machines for engineering testing – the case study of advanced joining processes unit

Abstract

Structural adhesive joining has become a widely used joining method for various types of structures, thus avoiding more conventional joining methods. In this manner, adhesive materials may be present in structures which suffer loading conditions that may not be normally considered in the design phase, such as high-strain rate conditions or creep and torsional loading. In these situations, adhesive properties and mechanical behaviour are sometimes not well understood, thus requiring special machine testing setups that can only be built for the specific application. Therefore, this paper provides a brief overview of proposed machine architectures for a torsion testing apparatus, a tensile & compressive Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB), a drop-weight apparatus and a three station creep testing machine with a climactic chamber. Each testing apparatus has been designed by graduate students during their master thesis projects, and facilitated in the production of interesting and relevant scientific output in the field of structural adhesive behaviour.