Abstract
This study investigated the bonding technique for the joining together of tubular sections which are under axial loading. In particular the yielding of polymers was studied and the criterion which was eventually used in the analyses was a modification of the Von Mises one. The Paraboloidal criterion accommodates differences in tensile and compressive yield strengths and accounts for any dependence of yielding on the hydrostatic component of the applied stress state. The yielding behaviour of the thin layer of the adhesive epoxy resin was analysed and it has been shown that the prediction of the adhesive strength is affected by the progress of the yield. Comparisons between the Paraboloidal and the Von Mises yield criteria have also been applied to a modified tubular joint involving threads within the bonded region. It is suggested that the prediction of the stresses at yield, using the modified criterion have a greater credibility compared with those of the Von Mises. The paraboloidal yield criterion has been implemented correctly in a standard finite element package ABAQUS. The author has made use of the "user subroutine" facility which allows a user of ABAQUS to write a sub-program defining the material constitutive relations to be used in an analysis.