Designation: D 1184 – 98

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS

100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM

Standard Test Method for

Flexural Strength of Adhesive Bonded Laminated
Assemblies1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 1184; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the Department of Defense.

INTRODUCTION

The accuracy of the results of strength tests of adhesive bonds will depend on the conditions under
which the bonding process is carried out. Unless otherwise agreed upon by the manufacturer and the
purchaser, the bonding conditions shall be prescribed by the manufacturer of the adhesive. In order to
ensure that complete information is available to the individual conducting the tests, the manufacturer
of the adhesive shall furnish numerical values and other specific information for each of the following
variables:
(1) Procedure for preparation of surfaces prior to application of the adhesive, including the moisture
content of wood, the cleaning and drying of metal surfaces, and special surface treatments such as
sanding that are not specifically limited by the pertinent test method.
(2) Complete mixing directions for the adhesive.
(3) Conditions for application of the adhesive including the rate of spread of thickness of film,
number of coats to be applied, whether to be applied to one or both surfaces, and the conditions of
drying where more than one coat is required.
(4) Assembly conditions before application of pressure, including the room temperature, length of
time, and whether open or closed assembly is to be used.
(5) Curing conditions, including the amount of pressure to be applied, the length of time under
pressure, and the temperature of the assembly when under pressure. It should be stated whether this
temperature is that of the glue line or of the atmosphere at which the assembly is to be maintained.
(6) Conditioning procedure before testing, unless a standard procedure is specified, including the
length of time, temperature, and relative humidity.
A range may be prescribed for any variable by the manufacturer of the adhesive if it can be assumed
by the test operator that any arbitrarily chosen value within such a range or any combination of such
values for several variables will be acceptable to both the manufacturer and the purchaser of the
adhesive.

1. Scope stress to a minimum as is done in other ASTM test methods for

1.1 This test method covers the determination of the com- flexural properties. This method is not applicable to assemblies
parative properties of either metal or wood adhesive bonded made with nonrigid adherends. The data obtained are not
assemblies when subjected to flexural stresses with standard suitable for design work.
shape specimens and under defined conditions of pretreatment, 1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the
temperature, relative humidity, and testing technique. The test standard. The values given in parentheses are for infomation
specimen and testing technique were designed to develop a purposes.
large portion of shear forces between the laminae of the test 1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the
piece when the load is applied, rather than to reduce shear safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-
1
This test method is under the jursidiction of ASTM Committee D-14 on bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Adhesives and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D14.80 on Metal
Bonding Adhesives.
Current eddition approved April. 10, 1998. Published February l999. Originally
published as D 1184 – 51. Last previous edition D 1184 – 93.

1
 D 1184
2. Referenced Documents 6.5 Conditioning Room or Desiccators—A conditioning
2.1 ASTM Standards: room capable of maintaining a relative humidity of 50 6 2 %
D 907 Terminology of Adhesives2 at 23 6 1.1°C (73.4 6 2°F), or desiccators filled with a
E 4 Practices for Force Verification of Testing Machines3 saturated salt solution (Note 1) to give a relative humidity of 50
6 2 % at 23 6 1.1°C (73.4 6 2°F).
3. Terminology
NOTE 1—A saturated solution of calcium nitrate will give approxi-
3.1 Definitions—Many terms in this test method are defined mately 51 % relative humidity at 23°C in a closed container.
in Terminology D 907.
7. Test Specimens
4. Summary of Test Method 7.1 The specimen is a rectangular piece 38 mm (1.5 in.)
4.1 Test a specimen composed of eight bonded plies as a long and 19.1 mm (0.75 in.) wide. The length of the specimen
simple beam loaded at the mid-span. Test at conditions of is sufficient to allow an overhang of between 2.5 and 3.8 mm
standard temperature and humidity. Specimen flexural proper- (0.1 and 0.15 in.) on each end. The specimens are machined
ties are compared by generating maximum shear stress in metal from laminated panels consisting of eight plies of 0.3-mm
specimens and flexural strength of wood specimens using (0.01-in.) thick adherend material. Each ply is coated with
standard formulas. adhesive on both sides with an even spread, and bonded. The
mixing procedure, weight of spread, drying conditions, and
5. Significance and Use assembly time conforms to the manufacturer’s directions. The
5.1 This test method is designed for both wood and metal maximum shear stress is developed at the neutral surface
bonded specimens. approximately midway between the top and bottom of the
5.2 The test method provides a means to compare flexural beam. Thus it is important to have an even number of plies of
properties between assemblies. adherend material, so that the adhesive is in the center. Since
5.3 The data are reduced to a comparable basis by means of failure by delamination probably begins in the center layer of
the formulas given in 11.1 and 11.2. It is recognized that these adhesive, special care should be exercised in the preparation of
formulas do not apply rigidly to tests made in the manner this part of the specimen.
described in this method, but serve only to reduce the data to 7.2 Wood Specimens—The wood panel specimens are pre-
a comparable basis. pared from 0.2 mm (0.01-in.)-thick quarter-cut veneers. Only
straight-grain veneers shall be selected. Veneers are condi-
6. Apparatus tioned at 50 6 2 % relative humidity and 23 6 1.1°C (73.4 6
6.1 Testing Machine—Use a properly calibrated testing 2°F) for at least one week before bonding. Panels are con-
machine, capable of maintaining a specified rate of approach of structed by arranging the grains of the veneers symmetrically
the two loading parts. The error for indicated load to not exceed about the center so that the two core veneers are parallel. All
61 %. The stiffness of the testing machine is such that the total the other veneers are arranged so that the grain directions of
elastic deformation of the system does not exceed 1 % of the adjacent veneers are perpendicular to one another. This will
total deflection of the test specimen. The load-indicating result in the grains of the face veneers being parallel to each
mechanism is essentially free from inertia lag at the specified other. The grain on the face plies is parallel to the length of the
rate of testing. The accuracy of the testing machine is verified specimen.
in accordance with Practice E 4. 7.3 Metal Specimens—The metal panel specimens are pre-
6.2 Loading Piece—The center loading piece, which is pared from 0.2 mm (0.01-in.)-thick sheets.
attached to one loading part of the testing machine, has a radius 7.4 Panels—Four panels are prepared with each adhesive-
of at least 0.075 mm (1⁄32 in.). The rounded nose is at least 25 adherend combination, and at least five specimens shall be cut
mm (1 in.) long. If significant indentation occurs, a radius of from each panel for this test. The cutting of metal specimens is
one and one-half times the specimen depth for a chord length done so as to avoid overheating or mechanical damage to the
of not less than twice the specimen depth is used. joints.
6.3 Supports—A pair of round-nosed supports of the same NOTE 2—A fine-toothed typesetters’ circular saw has been found
radius as that on the loading piece is used. The span is suitable for such purposes.
adjustable to 60.13 mm (0.005 in.) within the range of eight
times the thickness of the test specimens (usually a span of 13 8. Conditioning
to 38 mm (0.5 to 1.5 in.)). The support device is mounted on 8.1 Condition all specimens prior to test at 23 6 1.1°C (73.4
the one loading part of the testing machine so that the rounded 6 2°F) and 50 6 2 % relative humidity for 48 h for metal and
nose of the loading piece on the other loading part is centered plastics, and 7 days for wood.
between the supports. 9. Procedure
6.4 Micrometers—Suitable calibrated micrometers, reading
to at least 0.025 6 0.001 mm (0.001 6 0.0005 in.) is used for 9.1 Test in an atmosphere maintained at 23 6 1.1°C (73.4 6
measuring the width and thickness of the test specimen. 2°F) and 50 6 2 % relative humidity. Test the specimen as a
simple beam loaded at mid-span. The span-depth ratio shall be
8 to 1. Measure the span length to the nearest 0.13 mm (0.005
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 15.06. in.) and the width and thickness of the specimen to the nearest
3
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 03.01. 0.03 mm (0.001 in.) at the center of the span.

2
 D 1184
9.2 Speed of Testing—Calculate the rate of approach of the d 5 depth of beam, mm (or in.).
loading parts for testing the specimens as follows: 11.2 For wood specimens, reduce the data to a comparable
N 5 ZL2/6d (1) basis by means of the flexural strength formula, as follows:
S 5 3PL/2bd2 (3)
where:
N 5 rate of approach of the loading, mm/min (or in./min), where:
L 5 span, mm (or in.), S 5 flexural strength, MPa (or psi),
d 5 depth of beam, mm (or in.), P 5 breaking load, N (or lbf),
Z 5 unit rate of fiber strain, mm/mm (or in./in.) of outer L 5 distance between supports, mm (or in.),
fiber length per minute, the constant is 0.01. This b 5 width of beam, mm (or in.), and
constant is the approproximate calculated rate of fiber d 5 depth of beam, mm (or in.).
strain for a rate of cross-head motion of 1.3 mm (0.05 11.3 For each series of tests, calculate the arithmetic mean
in.)/min, a span length of 100 mm (4 in.) and a span of all values obtained to three significant figures and report as
length of 100 mm (4 in.), and a depth of 13 mm (0.5 the“ average value” for the particular property in question.
in.) such as have been used with the 130 by 13 by 11.4 Calculate the standard deviation of each “average
13-mm (5 by 0.5 by 0.5-in.) test specimen. value.”
For the conditions of test described in this method, this
formula reduces to N 5 0.107 d. The rate of approach of the 12. Report
loading parts is as near as possible, but to not exceed, the value 12.1 The report includes the following:
calculated from this formula. This permits the use of a constant 12.1.1 Complete identification of the material tested, includ-
rate of straining, provided the resultant rate of approach does ing type, source, manufacturer’s code number, form, principal
not exceed the value calculated from the above formula. dimensions, and previous history,
12.1.2 Method of preparing test specimens,
10. Retests 12.1.3 Direction of cutting and loading specimens,
10.1 Unless otherwise specified, results that deviate from 12.1.4 Conditioning procedure,
the mean value of all tests should be rejected if the deviation of 12.1.5 Average depth and width of specimen,
the doubtful value is more than five times the average deviation 12.1.6 Radius of supports and nose,
from the mean obtained by excluding the doubtful value. 12.1.7 Rate of approach of loading parts in inches per
Discard such doubtful values and retest, unless the degree of minute,
variability is a factor that is being studied. 12.1.8 Average value of stress calculated in accordance with
11.1 and 11.2, and the standard deviation, and
11. Calculations 12.1.9 Type of failure, that is, delamination, breaking or
11.1 For metal specimens reduce the data to a comparable buckling.
basis by means of the maximum shear stress formula, as
follows: 13. Precision and Bias
Ss 5 3P/4bd (2) 13.1 No precision or bias exists for this test method, as the
necessary resources have not been forthcoming.
where:
Ss 5 maximum shear stress, MPa (or psi), 14. Keywords
P 5 breaking load, N (or lbf), 14.1 adhesive bonded assemblies; flexural strength; lami-
b 5 width of beam, mm (or in.), and nates

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