The mechanical behaviour of adhesive joints is critical for the performance of adhesively joined carton board packages. In this work, finite element analyses of hot melt adhesive (HMA) joints in carton board is conducted and compared to experimental results obtained using a Y-peel testing device. The aim of the present study is to analyse the behaviour of adhesive joints tested in the Y-peel testing device using a layered carton board model.
The carton board is modelled as a layered structure where the layers are assumed to obey Hill's orthotropic elastic-plastic model, and the interfaces are modelled using a softening orthotropic damage model. The HMA is modelled as isotropic linear elastic, and the influence from a varying elastic modulus of the HMA is explored. It is found that the pre-peak behaviour of the Y-peel force-elongation curves is reasonably well captured by the FE simulations, although the initial stiffness is somewhat too high. Also, the pre-peak behaviour is practically insensitive to changes of the elastic modulus of the HMA.
The deformation and delamination pattern obtained in the simulations was compared with microscope pictures taken during the corresponding Y-peel experiments, and it is shown that they conform to the observed behaviour during Y-peel testing at comparable loading levels. However, the delamination opening is somewhat underestimated by the model.
Funding Agency:
Korsnäs AB