Effect of Bondline Thickness on Mechanical Performance of Adhesive Bonds

Adhesive bonding systems consist of four critical elements: substrate material, adhesive material, surface preparation, and bonding/cure process. The adhesive bond performance is optimal within a thickness range, dependent on the specific adhesive and cure process. There is growing interest in understanding the effect of varying the bondline thickness of film (or paste) adhesives on mechanical performance to determine appropriate bondline thickness limits. In addition, there is interest in understanding which adhesive bond performance test methods are useful for assessing bondline thickness effects. This student team will work toward two objectives: (1) determine an appropriate bonding system with given substrate and film or paste adhesive composite materials and (2) characterize mechanical performance dependence on bondline thickness. To meet these objectives, this student team will work to: 1. Propose a suitable secondary bonding system cure process and surface preparation for given substrate and adhesive composite materials, ensuring bonding system achieves cohesive failure within adhesive. 2. Propose a suitable method for controlling bondline thickness within bonding system. 3. Propose an appropriate test plan/DOE plan for typical structural tests of adhesive bond performance. Design and develop test coupons with varying bondline thickness for comparison. 4. Perform mechanical tests. Characterize variable bondline thickness with respect to mechanical performance. 5. Publish results of tests - conclusions and recommendations. This student team will work to create a technical summary report on findings of testing.

Related News