Abstract
The present study makes a comparative study of various cylindrical assemblies using the analytical models developed by minimizing the potential energy associated with the stress field and using variational methods and some assumptions. All the components of the stress field were defined function of the s(1)zz(z) stress in the first element and then introduced into the potential energy formulation. A variational method applied on the potential energy of deformation help us to obtain the minimum. This applied model can predict the optimal overlap length. Finally, a failure criterion of Tsai-Hill type was established. Keywords: stress analysis; stress distribution; adhesive joints; analytical method