▎ 摘　　要

This paper studied the effect of graphene oxide nano-platelets (GOPs) on the fracture behaviour of epoxy adhesive-bonded joints, experimentally and numerically. The double cantilever beam specimens were tested and the fracture energies and resistance curves were determined for the unreinforced and reinforced adhesives. A maximum improvement of 69% in the fracture energy was achieved with the addition of 0.3wt% of GOPs into the adhesive layer. Moreover, the fracture surfaces were examined using the scanning electron microscopy technique to find out the toughening mechanisms involved in this improvement and mechanisms of GOP debonding and crack deflection were observed. Furthermore, a cohesive zone model was utilised to numerically study the effect of GOPs on the fracture behaviour of the adhesive. The numerical analyses showed that the damage process zone length was also influenced by GOPs. The longest damage process zone was obtained for the toughened adhesive with 0.3 wt% of GOPs.