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Abstract
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.