Metal primer, applications testing

Vacuum lamination of terrestrial photovoltaic modules is a new production process requiring special equipment and a significant material development effort. Equipment design studies resulted in improved control and lower costs when using a double-chamber vacuum laminator. Application testing of new materials and primers showed the feasibility of two different back sheet materials, one encapsulant, two new primers for polymers and one primer for metals. 

A further advantage of polyaniline dispersion coatings and complete coating systems including interlayers and topcoats is its applicability to metal substrates other than steel. Aluminum is subject to so-called filiform corrosion, which can be effectively beaten by suitable products, in this case CORRPASSIV 4901 (a different kind of primer and top coat) the performance was tested by an independent institute (see footnote 7). In the meantime, the same primer was also successfully tested in various applications on magnesium. 

The method used for testing durability of adhesive bonds was developed at 3M by W.D. Sell (16) and is called "sustained load stress durability". The metal substrates were 2024T-3 clad or bare aluminum alloy, 5052T-4 bare aluminum alloy or 1010 cold rolled steel. The surface preparation for the aluminum alloys was either the "optimized" FPL-etch" or the H PO -anodization process (12). The steel was solvent wiped. If a primer was used, it was cured before application of the adhesive. Film... 

The bond between rubber and the metal surface is essentially a mechanical one achieved by the use of various resins and chlorinated rubbers, which when heated and crosslinked within their mass form a rigid network. Subsequent application of a high temperature directly to the area of the bond will result in the loosening of the grip of the primer material, and under the application of a load the bond will fail. This method is sometimes used to reprocess metals from components which have been rejected by quality tests. 

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