Report No 8 - Experimental Assessment of Durability Test Methods

The objective of durability tests is to provide some degree of confidence in the long-term performance of a bonded structure. However, accurate and directly relevant durability results, in an accelerated ageing test, should help to improve the correlation between short-term testing with long-term performance. This report considers the suitability of the following test methods in durability analysis.

• The lap joint test
• The T-peel test
• The wedge cleavage test
• The tensile butt test
• The perforated hydrothermal test
• The fabric peel test
• The bead scrape test
• The polymer film test
• The lap shear fatigue test.

Advantages and disadvantages of each test are listed.

The report suggests a ranking ability in the following order:

Perforated hydrothermal > Wedge > Tensile butt > Lap shear.

It stresses that a durability test method for a specific application should meet a user's particular requirements.



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