Quality assurance concepts for adhesive bonding of composite aircraft structures – characterisation of adherent surfaces by extended NDT

In order to ensure the performance of adhesively joined load-critical composite structures, suitable technologies are needed to steadily monitor adherent surfaces prior to bonding and to detect adhesion properties of bonded components. A novel class of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, classified as extended non-destructive testing (ENDT), is required to ascertain selected physicochemical properties which are important for the performance of adhesive bonds in place of detecting material defects like conventional NDT methods do. The European FP7 project, ‘ENCOMB – Extended non-destructive testing of composite bonds’ aims in the identification, development, adaptation and validation of ENDT methods for characterisation of adherent surfaces and adhesive bond quality. Here, recent NDT techniques such as optically stimulated electron emission (OSEE) and aerosol wetting test (AWT) as well as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) were advanced and applied in field, and without contacting carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) surfaces for detecting different contamination layers such as release agent, moisture or hydraulic oil as well as thermal degradation of CFRP adherent surfaces before performing an adhesive bonding process. Sensitivity and accuracy of these techniques allow distinguishing surface states which are suitable for bonding of CFRP adherents from surface states which are unfavourable for bonding. ENDT using OSEE, AWT and LIBS facilitated the detection of layers of release agent as thin as one nanometre and thin layers resulting from hydraulic oil. OSEE investigations of adherent surfaces before adhesive bonding allowed the indication of all surface states of potential CFRP adherents, which according to previous studies, were related to application scenarios reducing the joint strength of resulting adhesive joints by 20–70%.     

The Effect of Agro-Wastes and Crustacean Fillers on Poly (Vinyl-Acetate) Emulsion Wood Adhesives

Cellulosic and crustacean filler materials were used to study their effects on poly(vinyl-acetate) (PVAC) emulsion wood adhesives. The elastoplastic behavior of the filler-treated PVAC emulsion was studied using differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. The result revealed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the filler-treated polymer is not significantly changed by the addition of the filler materials, whereas the tensile modulus, adhesive hardness, and the stiffness were markedly changed. The viscosity of the emulsions and their performance on wood surfaces were greatly affected by fillers. The cellulosic fillers have high oil-absorption capacity, hence increased viscosity to a greater extent than the case with crustacean-based filler materials, which have faster coalescence but yield mechanically weaker films. The acidity of the fillers influenced the setting time for wood adhesive bonding.     

Adhesive Joints for Low- and High-Temperature Use: An Overview

This work presents a review of several investigations on the topic of adhesive bonding at high and low temperatures. Durability and strength at extreme temperatures have always been a major limitation of adhesives that, given their polymeric nature, exhibit substantial degradation at temperatures where other structural materials (such as metals for example) have minute changes in mechanical properties. However, due to the inherent advantages of bonding, there is a large and continued effort aiming to improve the temperature resistance of adhesive joints, and this effort has been spread among the various topics that are discussed in this review. These topics include adhesive shrinkage and thermal expansion, adhesive properties, joint geometry optimization, and design techniques, among others. The findings of these research efforts have all found use in practical applications, helping to solve complex problems in a variety of high-tech industries where there is a constant need to produce light and strong components that can withstand large temperature gradients. Therefore, the final sections of this work include a discussion on two specific application areas that demonstrate the strict demands that extreme temperature use imposes on adhesive joints and the methods used to improve their performance.     

Effect of wood drying and heat modification on some physical and mechanical properties of radiata pine

To evaluate evolution of physical and mechanical properties due to drying and heat modification, a load of radiata pine wood was selected and properties were measured after each drying process. The results revealed interesting correlations between intrinsic factors and properties; the values of density were highly dispersed after drying or thermal treatment and uncorrelated with other parameters, but the minimum density values were kept constant after heat treatment. Moreover, weight loss (WL) and moisture content (MC) were decreasing proportionally to the treatment intensity, due to wood–water interactions, cell wall changes, and thermal degradation of wood fractions. WL and MC were reasonably correlated with the dimensional stability, improving the dimensional stability after drying treatments, but keeping the same order of anisotropy. Regarding the wood stiffness (modulus of elasticity, MOE), it was unaffected by the drying temperature, and the correlations between MOE and MC or WL appear to be acceptable, and the values of MC or WL did not adversely affect the MOE. However, the modulus of rupture was dropped during the drying process, obtaining three differentiated groups with a decrease in around 59% after thermal modification.     

Influence of wood substrate on bonding joint with structural silicone sealants for wood frames applications

The interest on silicone structural sealants' application in the field of wood window frames is growing fast, because of the introduction of novel production processes and stringent energy performance requirements of buildings. Structural timber-glass-sealant adhesive bonding assessments were carried out in several researches.The goal of this paper is to investigate the mechanism of adhesion and the properties of wood-structural silicone joints in order to understand the failure modes and strength of these bondings. For this purpose, tensile tests on wood-silicone joints were carried out in order to investigate the adhesion strength with different wood species. Moreover, peel tests have been carried out on wood-silicone joints in order to better understand the adhesion properties of the different materials. For this purpose, a dedicated belt was used, to avoid typical problems encountered during the standard peel test execution.In this investigation, both tests on untreated wood-silicone bonding and on coated wood-silicone bonding have been carried out, in order to capture the influence of wood species and wood primers on the adhesion to silicone.The results clearly proved that the adhesion strength between wood and structural silicone is highly influenced by the wood species, and a good correlation was found between tensile strength and breakage load in peel test.These results can be useful when assessing the strength of wood-silicone-double glazing glass joints and when informing FE models of wood frames joints and also to provide indications about optimal structural sealant application modes and selection of silicone typologies in wood frames applications.     

Research on the static strength performance of adhesive single lap joints subjected to extreme temperature environment for automotive industry

Adhesive bonding technique is widely studied and adopted in automotive industry in recent years, which leads to satisfactory joint mechanical properties and lightweight effects. In this study, the static mechanical performance of adhesively bonded joints after different temperature exposures was investigated through joint quasi-static shear-strength test. A response surface method using MATLAB programming was utilised to analyse the influences of exposure temperature and adhesive mechanical attributes on joint static strength. Visual inspection and scanning electron microscopy were later performed on the fracture surfaces to explain the failure mechanisms. Test results showed that long-term temperature exposure caused degradation in joint strength and failure displacement. It was found through response surface curve that comparing to higher temperature exposure, lower temperature causes greater and faster environmental degradation. Different types of fracture surfaces in the overlap zone were also detected through comparing adhesive joints under different environmental treatments.     

The effect of the heat treatment of spruce wood on the curing of melamine–urea–formaldehyde and polyurethane adhesives

The effect of the heat treatment of spruce wood on the curing of melamine–urea–formaldehyde (MUF) and polyurethane (PUR) adhesives was monitored by measuring their rheological properties by means of a rheometer. Instead of the standard aluminium discs, wooden discs, made from heat-treated wood with different degrees of thermal modification and conditioned in different climates, were used. The wooden discs provided more realistic curing of the adhesives compared to the real-life bonding of wood, because of solvent absorption. The results of the rheological measurements suggested that the modified wood inhibited the curing of MUF and PUR adhesives. The curing of the MUF adhesive was slower because of the reduced absorption of water from the adhesive. The curing of the one-component PUR adhesive was affected by the lower moisture content (MC) of the modified wood.     

A novel B2O3/B4C-modified composite adhesive with wide operative temperature range for alumina fiber fabric bonding

A heat resistance adhesive with wide operative temperature range for bonding alumina fiber fabric was developed by organic-inorganic modification. The polyvinyl alcohol modified by B₂O₃ generated a complex cross-linked network connected by B–O–C bonds, which can enhance the bonding strength of adhesive after heat-treatment from RT to 400 °C. Moreover, the addition of B₄C can enhance the bonding strength of adhesive after heat-treatment from 400 °C to 800 °C due to the formation of molten B₂O₃ and borosilicate glass. Significantly, the appropriate addition of B₄C can make the adhesive form a denser structure without transforming the fracture mode of the bonding joints, which is conducive to enhance the strength performance of bonding joints after sintered at 800 °C. On the contrary, the excessive addition of B₄C will transform the fracture mode of the bonding joints into brittle fracture, which will degrade the strength performance of bonding joints.     

Durability of PBI adhesive bonded joints under various environmental conditions

Structural adhesives are finding increasing use in many applications. However, their utilization at elevated temperature has always been a challenge due to their low thermal and mechanical properties. However, in recent years, the development of high performance polymers have overcome the problem of using adhesive bonding at high temperature to some extent. Polybenizimidazole (PBI) is one such recently emerged high performance polymer with excellent thermal and mechanical properties. It has a tensile strength of 160 MPa and a glass transition temperature (T_g) of 425 °C. Due to its excellent thermal and mechanical properties, it has the potential to be used as an adhesive under various environmental conditions. In the present work, efforts are devoted to explore the potential of using PBI at high temperature and in hot-wet environmental conditions. M21 and DT120 epoxy based carbon fiber composite bonded joints were prepared and tested. Both M21/carbon composite and DT120/carbon composite have exhibited a reduction in joint strength of about 16% and 25% respectively after 1000 h of conditioning in a hot-wet environment. However, a reduction in lap shear strength of 52% and 56% is observed when composite bonded joints were tested at 80 °C.     

The effect on shear strength of different surfacing techniques in Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) bonded joints

The selection of the most appropriate surfacing technique is influential in the success of bonding, painting and varnishing processes. The objective of the study was to determine which surfacing technique was the most appropriate when applied as the final process in the production of structural wood members, which were subjected to shearing. The study also includes the effect on shear strength of the variables, such as type of wood, plane of cut, type of adhesive and pressing pressure, as they are directly related to the main objective of the study. In view of this objective, the changes in shear strength on radial and tangential cut surfaces of Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) woods having different roughness values as a result of sawing with a circular ripsaw, planing and sanding, and bonded with polyurethane (PU) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) adhesives at 3, 6 and 9 MPa pressure, were studied. The 936 specimens prepared with the objective of determining the effects of variables on bond performance were subjected to a shear test in a universal test equipment in accordance with the ASTM D 905-98 standard. The highest shear strength (13.85 N/mm²) was obtained for the Oriental beech specimens cut from their tangential surfaces with a circular ripsaw, which were glued with PVAc adhesive by applying a pressure of 9 MPa. The lowest value (4.22 N/mm²) was obtained in the specimens planed from their tangential surfaces, which were glued with PU adhesive by applying a pressure of 3 MPa. The specimens obtained from Oriental beech wood showed a higher shear strength compared to the specimens obtained from Scotch pine. In general, in both species of wood, the specimens glued with PVAc adhesive, both on the tangential surfaces and on the radial surfaces, produced higher shear strengths compared to the specimens glued with PU adhesive.     

Process-induced effects in thin-film bonding of PEKEKK in metal-polymer joints

In this work, poly ether ketone ether ketone ketone (PEKEKK) was used as a thermoplastic adhesive for joining metals. Titanium and cobalt chromium alloys were joined to form tensile butt joints. These tensile specimens were used to evaluate bond performance. A controlled thermal processing cycle was used to modify and enhance the polymer crystallinity during bonding. The resulting effects on bond performance were examined. The process window for a thermal bonding process was identified. Factorial experiments were conducted to determine the effects of modifications to adhesive and adherend material, and bonding pressure on bond performance. A titanium alloy and a cobalt chromium alloy were used as the adherends. Understanding changes in the thermoplastic adhesive joint with the variation of process parameters will allow for proper application and processing of thermoplastic structural adhesives.     

Process optimization of solvent based polybenzimidazole adhesive for aerospace applications

The use of adhesive bonding for high temperature applications is becoming more challenging because of low thermal and mechanical properties of commercially available adhesives. However, the development of high performance polymers can overcome the problem of using adhesive bonding at high temperature. Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is one such recently emerged high performance polymer with excellent thermal and mechanical properties. It has a tensile strength of 160 MPa and a glass transition of 425 °C. Currently, PBI is available in solution form with only 26% concentration in Dimethyl-acetamide solvent. Due to high solvent contents, the process optimization required lot of efforts to form PBI adhesive bonded joints with considerable lap shear strength. Therefore, in present work, efforts are devoted to optimize the adhesive bonding process of PBI in order to make its application possible as an adhesive for high temperature applications. Bonding process was optimized using different curing time and temperatures. Epoxy based carbon fiber composite bonded joints were successfully formed with single lap shear strength of 21 Mpa. PBI adhesive bonded joints were also formed after performing the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of composite substrate. Plasma treatment has further improved the lap shear strength of bonded joints from 21 MPa to 30 MPa. Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment has also changed the mode of failure of composite bonded joints.     

Effect of Nanoclay Incorporation on the Impact Properties of Adhesively Bonded Composite Structures

During manufacturing or service conditions, adhesively bonded composites are often subjected to impact. This impact may result in a reduction in strength and structural integrity of engineering components that are composed of adhesively bonded composite structures. The investigation of the degradation of strength of structural joints is, therefore, of paramount importance for their successful performance. Impact resistance of bondline in adhesively joined composites can be altered by the addition of nanoclay in the adhesive during fabrication of adhesive joints. In this study, impact test was carried out on graphite–epoxy composite panels bonded with nanoclay adhesive at different impact energies using drop-weight impact test equipment. Adhesive joints were fabricated by adding nanoclay in volume fractions of 1, 2 and 5% in the adhesive bondline. For comparison, plain adhesive joints were fabricated without nanoclay incorporation in the bondline. Impact testing was performed on these joints at 5, 10 and 20 J, to study the effect of inclusion of nanoclay in the epoxy adhesive. In order to determine the flexural load bearing capacity and stiffness reduction after impact, a three-point bending test was conducted on unimpacted and impacted specimens. The results showed that there was an improvement in impact capacity, however there was a reduction in flexural strength due to nanoclay incorporation.     

Adhesive properties of water-washed cottonseed meal on four types of wood

The interest in natural product-based wood adhesives has been steadily increasing due to the environmental and sustainable concerns of petroleum-based adhesives. In this work, we reported our research on the utilization of water-washed cottonseed meal (WCM) as wood adhesives. The adhesive strength and water resistance of WCM adhesive preparations on poplar, Douglas fir, walnut, and white oak wood veneers were tested with press temperatures of 80, 100, and 130 °C. Our data indicated that raising the hot press temperature from 80 to 100–130 °C greatly increased the bonding strength and water resistance of the WCM adhesives. The general trend of the adhesive strength of WCM on the four wood species was Douglas fir > poplar ≈ white oak > walnut. The rough surface of Douglas fir with tipping features could enhance the mechanical interlocking between the wood fibers and adhesive slurry, contributing to the high adhesive strength. The dimensional swelling of the bonded wood pairs due to water soaking was in the order: thickness > width (i.e. perpendicular to the wood grain) > length (i.e. parallel to the wood grain). The greatest dimensional changes were observed in Douglas fir specimens. However, the highest decrease in adhesive strength by water soaking was with poplar wood specimens. These observations suggested that the wood dimensional changes were not dominant factors on water weakening the bonding strength of these wood pairs.     

Bonding performance of melamine-urea-formaldehyde and phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde adhesives in interior grade glulam

Wood moisture content (MC) affects the glued laminated beam (glulam) bonding strength. Selected adhesives were Phenol-Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (PRF) and Melamine-Urea-Formaldehyde (MUF) adhesives with 1, 1.5 and 2% (w/w) carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) formic acid solutions. Douglas fir (pseudotsuga menziesii) from North America was used in the test. The bonding behavior of these adhesives with wood at 12 and 18% MC were investigated. The study focused on the effect of 18% MC on shear strength performance of MUF and PRF adhesives and optimizing the formula of CMC formic acid solution. Compressive shear strength of wood with MUF adhesive with 2% (w/w) formic acid solution at 12 and 18% MC stabilized at 10.6 and 10.0 MPa, respectively, which were 17 and 16% higher than that with PRF adhesive at the same condition. At 12–18% MC, MC had a little effect on bonding strength. However, 18% MC wood with PRF adhesive had 52.2% less initial strength increasing rate than that of 12% MC wood. 18% MC wood with MUF adhesives with 1, 1.5 and 2% (w/w) CMC formic acid solutions had 16.0, 15.5 and 27.0% less initial strength increasing rates than that of 12% MC wood, respectively. MUF adhesive using 2% CMC formic solution required the shortest press time at 12 and 18% MC about 1.6 and 2.7 h, respectively. The strength of PRF adhesive was significantly affected by wood MC and enough press time is essential for the proper bonding strength.     

High-performance nanoadhesive bonding of titanium for aerospace and space applications

In this investigation, attempts are made to prepare high-performance nanoadhesive bonding of titanium for its essential applications to aviation and space. The high-performance nanoadhesive is prepared by dispersing silicate nanoparticles into the ultra-high-temperature-resistant epoxy adhesive at 10 wt% ratio with the matrix adhesive followed by modification of the nanoadhesive after curing under high-energy radiation for 6 h in the pool of SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor with a dose rate of 37 kGy/h to promote crosslink into the adhesive. Prior to bonding, the surfaces of the titanium sheets are mechanically polished by wire brushing, ultrasonically cleaned by acetone and thereafter the titanium sheets are modified by plasma ion implantation using plasma nitriding. The titanium surface is characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The thermal characteristics of the epoxy adhesive and the high-performance nanoadhesive are carried out by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The TGA studies clearly shows that for the basic adhesive there is a weight loss of the adhesive, however, in the case of epoxy–silicate nanoadhesive, there is almost 100% retention of weight of the adhesive, when the adhesive is heated up to 350 °C. Lap shear tensile strength of the joint increases considerably, when the titanium surface is modified by plasma-nitriding implantation. There is a further massive increase in joint strength, when the plasma-nitriding implanted titanium joint is prepared by nanosilicate–epoxy adhesive and further modification of the adhesive joint under high-energy radiation results a further significant increase in joint strength. In order to simulate with aviation and space climatic conditions, the joints are separately exposed to cryogenic (?196 °C) and elevated temperature (+300 °C) for 100 h and thermal fatigue tests of the joints are carried out under 10 cycles by exposing the joint for 2 h under the above temperatures. When the joint completely kept at ambient condition and the joint strength compared with those joints exposed to aviation and space climatic conditions, it is observed that the joint could retain 95% of the joint strength. Finally, to understand the behavior of the high-performance silicate–epoxy nanoadhesive bonding of titanium, the fractured surfaces of the joints are examined by scanning electron microscope.     

Rubber solution adhesives for wood-to-wood bonding

Rubber solutions were prepared and used for bonding wood pieces. The effect of the variation of chlorinated natural rubber (CNR) and phenolformaldehyde (PF) resin in the adhesive solutions on lap shear strength was determined. Natural rubber and neoprene-based adhesive solutions were compared for their lap shear strength. The storage stability of the adhesive prepared was determined. The change in lap shear strength before and after being placed in cold water, hot water, acid, and alkali was tested. The bonding character of these adhesives was compared with different commercially available solution adhesives. The room-temperature aging resistance of wood joints was also determined. In all the studies, the adhesive prepared in the laboratory was found to be superior compared to the commercial adhesives. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 68: 1185–1189, 1998     

Future Design Concepts for the Development of New Pretreatments of Aluminium Alloy/Metal Matrix Composites for Adhesive Bonding

The present paper is concerned with the identification of reasons for the environmental failure of adhesive joints using aluminium alloy substrates and the potential for improvement in performance by the development of modified anodising treatments. The attention of the work is focused on the behaviour of the oxide region of the joint and its potential influence on overall bonding performance. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to study the oxide region within aluminium alloy adhesive joints which have been prepared by phosphoric acid anodising (PAA) and chromic acid anodising (CAA). Static stress durability tests are used to assess the performance of the joints and the resulting failure surfaces were investigated. Finally, the importance of the presence of a “micro-composite” interphase consisting of anodic oxide penetrated by adhesive, in the joint, is advanced and its significance in future pretreatment design outlined.     

Strength Prediction of Adhesively Bonded Single Lap Joints Under Salt Spray Environment Using a Cohesive Zone Model

The aim of this research was to develop an experimental–numerical approach to characterize the effect of salt spray environment on adhesively bonded joints and predict the degradation in joint strength. Experiments were conducted on bulk adhesive specimens and single lap joints (SLJs) under salt spray condition and the corresponding experimental results were reported. The environment degradation factor, Deg, was incorporated into a bilinear cohesive zone model (CZM) to simulate the degradation process of the joints. The degraded CZM parameters, determined from static tests on bulk adhesive, were imported into the CZM using an approximate moisture concentration gradient approach. The reduction in residual strength of SLJ under salt spray environment was successfully predicted through comparing the experimental and numerical results.     

Effect of Bondline Thickness on Mixed-Mode Debonding of Adhesive Joints to Electroprimed Steel Surfaces

Structural applications of adhesive bonding have been increasing in recent years due to improvements in the types of adhesives available and in improved knowledge of bonding procedures. Consequently, there exists a demand for techniques to assess adhesive joint strength, particularly along bondline interfaces where compliant adhesives contact more rigid metallic surfaces. The present study investigates the mixed-mode response of cracked-lap-shear (CLS) joints bonded with unprimed and electroprimed steel adherend surfaces. Three bondline thicknesses, representative of structural automotive joints, were evaluated for unprimed and primed bondlines. Experimental results for static load versus debond extension were input to finite element analyses for computing debond parameters (strain energy release rates). The debonds always initiated at a through-the-thickness location that had the greatest peel component of strain energy release rate. The total strain energy release rate values correlated well with trends in joint strength as a function of bondline thickness.