Maxima in Peel Forces, As Adherend Thickness Varies

Abstract

Some 20 years ago Roger Stanbridge and I were concerned about the vulnerability of products, made out of sheet steel and assembled using adhesives, to cleavage or peeling apart of their bonded joints. We conducted a study, for which supplies of mild steel adherends were made up from one cast of metal. This was rolled down to a range of thicknesses between about ten and seventy thousandths of an inch, and all thicknesses were annealed to comparable tempers. We therefore had a supply of very uniform adherend, of variable thickness (T).