New methods to assess the performance of structural joints with microstructures

The reliability of structural joints plays a crucial role in our daily life since the most recent innovations in engineering and structural materials have exponentially increased the usage of advanced products, multi- components, and structures. Hence, it is necessary to introduce new methods to assess the bonding strengths of adhesive joints, especially in complex interfaces, as in the presence of micro-structured or rough surfaces, since the morphology of the interface highly influences the overall performance of a structural joint. The present thesis explores the role of complex interfaces and functional surfaces in the overall performance of multi-components products, intending to understand the mechanical phenomena that may take place at the interface between different materials, simply in contact or joined through an adhesive. Different topics have been analyzed through experimental and numerical analyses. The research deals with rough interface contact simulations proposing a novel multi-scale approach in the context of computational contact mechanics. Furthermore, the surface morphology influence on adhesive joints has been investigated through peeling tests and numerical models. Moreover, a computational framework for microstructured adhesives has been proposed. The final topic regards the failure simulation of bilayer structural joints with rubber-like materials.