Delamination characterization of bonded interface in polymer coated steel using surface based cohesive model

The element based cohesive zone model (ECZM) is used widely for examining the delamination or decohesion of the interface surface in adhesively-bonded materials using finite element models (FEM). In this study, a surface based cohesive model available in commercial finite element analysis (FEA) code was used in place of the EZCM because of the similarities with both models when the interface thickness is zero and the advantages of fewer input parameters, easy modeling and reduced computational time. A mode I fracture study with the 90° peel test and simulation were performed in polymer-coated steel. The results were compared with the ECZM. The surface based cohesive model predicted delamination well and the results were closer to those obtained by the ECZM. The cohesive model requires fine meshing in the FEM to predict delamination closely. The same simulations were carried out using coarse meshes to evaluate the feasibility of using it in coarse meshes. The results showed that coarse mesh simulations can also predict delamination with accuracy close to those performed with fine meshes.