Assembly including tubular bodies and mated with a compression loaded adhesive bond

An assembly mating first and second substantially tubular bodies, said mating assembly comprising:

• a sleeve structure forming a part of the first tubular body and defining an inner receptacle surface region;
• an adjustable compression loading assembly at least partially received in said sleeve structure and integrally formed with, constituted by, or otherwise securable to the second tubular body, said adjustable compression loading assembly having a longitudinal axis and comprising a laterally-expandable member and a wedge member, said wedge member having an outer surface region received by an inner surface region of said laterally-expandable member;
• and
• a cured adhesive bond positioned between an exterior surface region of said laterally-expandable member and said inner receptacle surface region to couple said sleeve structure to said laterally-expandable member,
• wherein said adjustable compression loading assembly is constructed and arranged to permit relative longitudinal movement of said wedge member towards and away from said laterally-expandable member and said sleeve structure coupled thereto between (a) a load-free position, in which said wedge-member outer surface region is not larger in lateral dimension than a longitudinally-corresponding portion of said laterally-expandable-member inner surface region and (b) at least one load-imparting position, in which said wedge-member outer surface region expands said laterally-expandable-member exterior surface region laterally outward and thereby compresses said cured adhesive bond in the substantially lateral direction to increase the strength of said adhesive bond by reducing stresses substantially normal to said adhesive bond on said mating assembly due to longitudinal loading, torsional loading, or a combination of longitudinal and torsional loading, and
• wherein relative movement of said wedge towards said sleeve structure adjusts said compression loading assembly from the load-free position to the load-imparting position, and relative movement of said wedge away from said sleeve structure adjusts said compression loading assembly from the load-imparting position to the load-free position.