Almost every engineering design requires that component members be connected. A disadvantage of mechanical connections such as bolts, screws or rivets is that they do not uniformly distribute the load; hence large local stresses result. This problem can often be reduced ~ joining the members adhesively. Major problems with adhesives that have tended to limit their wider us age include: (1) how the strength of an adhesive and the joint in which it is used can reliably be predicted, and (2) what factors tend to limit the strength of an adhesive joint and how they might be eliminated . It is the intent of the authors to show how fracture mechanics might be used to develop a rational philosophy and methodology that will aid in overcoming these problems.