Numerical study for structural performance evaluation of adhesively bonded aluminum dynamic message signs

Adhesively bonded joints used for the fabrication of an aluminum dynamic message sign (DMS) have increasingly gained popularity in the transportation signage manufacturing industry. However, in-depth numerical studies on the structural performance of DMSs are tremendously limited. The main goal of this study was to numerically examine the structural performance of the adhesively bonded DMSs. In this study, the performance of DMS specifically refers to the maximum strength resisted by the DMS under ultimate loadings. In pursuit of this goal, this study proposed a three-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis approach to delve into the performance of a full-scale adhesive DMS tested with ultimate loads. The FE model for the tested DMS was generated using ABAQUS software and calibrated with the testing data. A parametric study was conducted via the calibrated FE model associated with variation in key design parameters, such as damage factor and area of adhesive, in order to not only quantify their effects on the performance of adhesive DMSs, but also determine its optimized performance. Finally, a parametric equation in conjunction with the key parameters was developed in a statistical manner for the efficient prediction of the adhesive DMS performance. Significant findings revealed that the overall structural behavior of the generated FE model was observed analogous to that found in the DMS testing, and the ultimate strength from the FE analysis was only 1.26% lower than that gained from the testing. Additionally, it was found that the optimized FE model exhibited 8.32% higher ultimate strength than the tested DMS, and the proposed equation was capable of estimating the strength with an average error of 9.58% compared to the FE analysis.