A study on durability of joints bonded with pressure-sensitive adhesives

Abstract

The use of adhesive bonding as fastener presents very high usage potential, especially for different environments. However, the designers do not have enough data yet to address the changes in the mechanical properties of adhesives in the course of time. In this study, the ageing of film-type adhesives, Structural Bonding Tapes (SBT) 9244 and 9245, which are different in thickness and possess pressure-sensitive and visco-elastic properties, was investigated. First, the bulk adhesive specimens were prepared and exposed to two different environmental conditions until saturated. In the same time, single lap joints with two different adhesive layer thicknesses, consisting of AA2024-T3 as the adherend, were exposed to the same environmental conditions for exposure times of 90 days. The immersion environments were 100% relative humidity (RH) and 3.5% NaCl solution. At the end of exposure time, the failure surfaces were examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) after the strength of joints was determined with the lap shear test. Both SBT adhesives absorb more water from 100% RH than from 3.5% NaCl solution and, therefore, they deteriorate rapidly in 100% RH. In addition, as the thickness of adhesive layer increases, the loss in the strength increased.

Keywords:

• ADHESIVE
• AGEING
• ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
• SINGLE LAP JOINT
• SEM MICROGRAPHS
• DEGRADATION