Bonding, process control adhesive application

The best approach to achieving good performance in bonded joints is to select the proper adhesive, design the joint properly for the specific application, and maintain rigid process control. One disadvantage in the use of adhesives is the absence of good non-destructive tests to determine the strength of adhesive-bonded joints in a wide variety of ord applications... 

The application of a primer is an additional step in the bonding process, and it comes with associated costs and quality control requirements. Therefore, primers should be used only when justified. The most likely occasions for a primer to be used are when (1) the adhesive or sealant cannot be applied immediately after surface preparation, (2) the substrate surface is weak or porous, or (3) the adhesive-adherend interface requires additional protection from service environments such as moisture. 

For many industrial applications of plastics that are dependent on adhesive bonding, cold gas plasma surface treatment has rapidly become the preferred industrial process. Plasma surface treatment, which is conducted in a vacuum environment, affords an opportunity to minimize or eliminate the barriers to adhesion through three distinct effects (1) removal of surface contaminants and weakly bound polymer layers, (2) enhancement of wettability through incorporation of functional or polar groups that facilitate spontaneous spreading of the adhesive or matrix resin, and (3) formation of functional groups on the surface that permit covalent bonding between the substrate and the adhesive or matrix resin. Since plasma treatment is a process of surface modification, the bulk properties of the material are retained. The nature of the process also allows precise control of the process parameters and ensures repeatability of the process in industrial applications. Finally, several studies have demonstrated that these surface modifications can be achieved with minimum impact on the environment. 

J. A. Marceau and Y. Moji, Application of fracture mechanics testing to process control for adhesive bonding. Document D6-41145, Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. 

One issue with silane-coupling treatments is that the performance can be highly dependent on processing conditions, especially hydrolysis and drying conditions. Nonetheless, process controls suitable for field application of bonded repair patches are possible. With such controls. Optimized grit-blast/silane treatments can provide wedge test durability as good as PAA with failure entirely cohesive within the adhesive. 

Controlling flow or viscosity is an important part of the adhesive formulation process. If the adhesive has a propensity to flow easily before and during cure, then one risks the possibility of a final joint that is starved of adhesive material. If the adhesive flows only with the application of a great amount of external pressure, then one risks the possibility of entrapping air at the interface and getting too thick of a bond line. These factors could result in localized high-stress areas within the joint and reduction of the ultimate joint strength. 

---