Dynamic responses of adhesively bonded tubular joints subjected to a harmonic torsional load are evaluated. The adherents are assumed to be elastic, and the adhesive is taken to be a linear viscoelastic material. The in uence of the adherents and the adhesive properties on the joint response as well as on the shear stress amplitude distribution along the overlap is investigated. Furthermore, the effects of defects such as an annular void in the bond area on the dynamic response and shear stress amplitude distribution in the bond area are studied. The results indicate that, for the tubular joint geometries and properties investigated, the natural frequencies of the joint are little affected by the adhesive loss factor. The natural frequencies of the joint initially increase rapidly with increasing adhesive shear modulus. However, the natural frequencies asymptotically approach a constant value with further increase in adhesive shear modulus. The results further show that the natural frequencies of the joint may not be affected with the presence of a central void in the bond area.The distribution of the shear stress amplitude in the joint area was obtained. The maximum shear stress was con ned to the edge of the overlap for all applied loading frequencies. For the adhesive and adherent properties and geometries investigated, the maximum shear stress amplitude in the joint area was little affected by the presence of a central annular void covering up to 40 per cent of the oveplap length. The result showed that the shear stress amplitude distribution is more sensitive to the void location than to the void size. This was especially pronounced for voids located close to the edge of the overlap.A central void larger than 40 per cent of the overlap length may be detrimental or bene cial to the joint strength. This depends on the applied loading frequency. A central void reduces the system resonance frequency. This may take the system further away from the applied loading frequency or may bring it closer. A system excited closer to or further from its resonance frequency will develop a higher or lower shear stress amplitude in the bond area.