Interply bonding

The mechanism governing the formation of interply bonds has been established as autohesion or self-diffusion [28], Autohesive bonding is controlled by two mechanisms (1) intimate contact between the interfacial surfaces, and (2) diffusion of the macromolecules across the interface. Figure 7.22 shows the phenomenon of autohesion for an amorphous thermoplastic polymer. At time zero, the two surfaces are pressed together. Providing the temperature is... 

The interply bond strength for thermoplastic matrix composites has been shown to be dependent upon the processing parameters, pressure, temperature, and contact time. If the temperature distribution in the composite is nonuniform during processing, the ply interfaces will bond (or heal) at different rates. Thus, for a specified processing cycle, it is important to know precisely the temperature and degree of autohesive bonding at every point in the composite laminate in order to estimate the required process time. 

The degree of bonding analysis has been verified for both compression molding and online consolidation of thermoplastic composites. In these studies, composite test specimens were consolidated under controlled processing conditions. The most common types of tests performed to measure the interply bond strength were the interlaminar (short beam) shear test [21,25] or the lap shear test [12,21,26]. 

Once intimate contact is achieved, bonding of the ply interfaces can occur. The mathematical relationships between interply bond formation and processing temperature and time were discussed in Section 7.3. The analyses are based on the theories explaining strength development of a polymer-polymer interface and crack healing in polymers. 

Apart from their use as tie layers in coextension, the modified polymers can find other adhesive applications such as improving adhesion of extrusion coatings, thermal lamination interplies, and as dispersions or powder coatings. As coatings, the modified polymers applied to metal surfaces can act as an adhesive layer to bond plastic components. A particularly useful version is to prepare a coextended film of a non-modified base polymer such as polyethylene or polypropylene, forming the bnlk of the structure, and apply a thin layer of the modified polymer to one or both external surfaces. This steucture may now be used to thermally bond to a metal substrate. 

In the case of bonded high modulus composites, failure at low load levels due to interply delamination within the composites is a common problem. The use of low modulus adhesives minimizes this problem. 

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