Adhesive bonding (introduction)

Dr. Dmitri Kopeliovich

Adhesive bonding is a process of joining two or more solid parts with an adhesive substance.

• Advantages of adhesive bonding
• Disadvantages of adhesive bonding
• Stages of adhesive bonding
• Applications of adhesive bonding

• Ability to join dissimilar materials;
• Fast and cheap joining technique;
• Provides design convenience and flexibility;
• Sealing properties (adhesive fills gaps and voids);
• Provides thin and invisible joint;
• Joints may be electrically/thermally conductive or insulating;
• Eliminates Galvanic corrosion;
• Good vibration damping properties;
• Uniform distribution of mechanical stress over the joint;
• Good Fatigue resistance.

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• Requires careful substrate (adherent) surface preparation;
• Long mixing and curing time may be required;
• Importance of right joint design;
• Difficult disassembly of joined parts;
• Necessity to fixture (hold together) the joined parts during curing;
• Service temperature and environment limitation;
• Low creep strength;
• Changing properties during service.

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1. Assembly and joint design. Proper design provides minimal peel and cleavage stresses. Tension, compression and shear stresses may be increased.
2. Adhesive selection. Selection of a proper adhesive is based on the substrate material, service temperature and environment, requirements to the bonding strength, flexibility and durability.
3. Surface preparation. The substrate surfaces should be cleaned from dirt and oils, and then abraded. Clean and roughened surfaces provide good wetting of the adhesive, which results in strong adhesion.
4. Applying and spreading a proper amount of the selected adhesive over the substrate surface. The operation is performed either manually or by means of dispensing devices.
5. Assembly of the parts to be joined.
6. Clamping the parts in a fixture at a controlled pressure.
7. Curing. In the curing process the adhesive molecules are cross-linked forming a strong adhesive joint. Curing method depends on the adhesive type.

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• Construction;
• Electronics;
• Telecommunications;
• Automotive industry;
• Furniture manufacture and other woodworks;
• Medical devices;
• Surgery (Bonding of tissues and bones);
• Textile industry;
• Package materials (stickers, stick tapes).

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• Fundamentals of adhesive bonding
• Classification of adhesives
• Surface preparation for adhesive bonding
• Adhesive selection
• Adhesive joints

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