could transverse grooves in the adherends reduce the interfacial stresses?
A simple analytical model has been developed to explain a paradoxical situation that has previously been detected on the basis of the finite element analysis (FEA) by one of the authors (Reinikainen): deep enough transverse grooves in the adherends (pins) resulted, for small size joints in an appreciable reduction in, and a more uniform distribution of, the interfacial stresses. In this analysis we address the situation using analytical (mathematical) modelling. The analysis is limited to the evaluation of the shearing stresses. The numerical example indicates that the ‘observed’ phenomenon is due to the increase in the interfacial compliance of the bonding structure: the grooves ‘convert’ the adherend portions located between the inner portions of the grooves and the bonding layer into parts of the bonding structure, thereby increasing the compliance of this structure with respect to the shearing deformations. This positive effect overwhelms, as far as the magnitude and the distributi
