Adhesion and Bond Strength Tests
MERL is at the forefront of adhesives
research on testing of structural adhesives, particularly for automotive
and aerospace applications, and the development and testing
of rubber bonding systems and test methods.
Elastomers are bonded to many different substrate types - metals,
thermoplastics, composites - and bonded components are critical across
a variety of industrial sectors; for example, automotive, rail, mining,
oil & gas, aerospace, biomedical.
Despite the potentially costly consequences of adhesive bond failure,
its causes are not well understood. Two major trends affecting all
involved
in the bonding of elastomers are:
- Component suppliers having responsibility for the life of bonded articles
- The shift towards water-based adhesive systems, driven by environmental regulation
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In order to meet these challenges and be able to offer, for example,
increased warranty periods for bonded structures and components, the
industry (adhesive suppliers, component manufacturers, end-users )
requires several things, all of which MERL can undertake:
- Bond strength testing - fixed angle peel/rotary peel etc
- Generation of independent and reliable performance data for adhesives
- Accelerated test method(s) for the purposes of optimising manufacture, and adhesive selection
- Understanding of the fundamental chemical and physical processes involved in bonding and bond failure
- The means to apply the above knowledge to everyday elastomer bonding issues
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