It is therefore not surprising to find a Chapter on this bonding

method at page 333 of the

AWS WHB-3.9
Welding Handbook, 9th Edition, Volume 3, Welding
Processes, Part 2
American Welding Society , 01-Jan-2007, 669 pages
Click to Order.

How can you solve

your Welding Problems?
Click on Welding Consultation.
For similar reasons a short page on Adhesive-bonding is
hereby included in this www.welding-advisers.com Site.
Although different from Welding, Structural Adhesive-bonding,
called also adhesive joining, adhesion welding or joints without
weld, has increasing importance for attaching metals to
themselves and to ceramics or composite materials. It is one
more tool in store for those special occasions when other
methods fail to meet requirements.
Adhesive-bonding provides advantages for the sheet metal
industry, including reduced operator skill and less postweld
finishing. It can result in higher manufacturing efficiency,
more extensive stress distribution, and cleaner product
surfaces.
When looking for the use of Adhesive-bonding as a joining
solution, and especially if redesigning a joint originally
intended for a different joining process, one should keep in
mind the advantages and the limitations of structural
adhesives, to be checked against the environmental
conditions prevailing during the service life of the specific
application.
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Advantages of Adhesive-bonding:

The possibility of Adhesive-bonding dissimilar materials,

including metals, independent of their metallurgical
properties.
The joint may provide electrical and thermal insulation,
and protection against galvanic corrosion of dissimilar
metallic parts joined together.
The ability of Adhesive-bonding thin sheets effectively
with weight reduction, preserving their load carrying
capacity, limiting stress concentration for long fatigue life
and providing sealing action.
Improved appearance given by Adhesive-bonding to
finished structures without the need of introducing
disturbing surface modifications,
Provisions for damping shocks, sound and vibrations.
Limited heat required for curing of adhesives, generally
not affecting the metal properties nor shape (warping) or
dimensions.
Improved Adhesive-bonding design options permitting
realization of smooth contours, without upsetting
features that might affect aerodynamic performance or
fatigue life.
Costs can be contained by limiting additional operations.
The capability of performing specific non destructive
testing procedures designed to assess the integrity of
structures built by Adhesive-bonding.

Limitations of Adhesive-bonding:

The cost of manufacturing facilities for large

structures made by Adhesive-bonding in the aerospace
industry tends to be high.
Surface preparation is critical to assure structural
Adhesive-bonding.
Specific Adhesive-bonding manufacturing procedures
tend to be either labor intensive or require complex
robotic or mechanized machinery.
Environmental conditions must be kept strictly constant
in time to guarantee the required joint mechanical
properties.
Storage life of many adhesive products is limited and
requires constant refrigeration. Work life is short from
preparation to application.

Note: A short Glossary on Terms and Definitions pertaining to

Adhesive-bonding was included in Practical Welding Letter of
March 2004. For seeing this PWL click on PWL#007.
An Article on Joining Composites to Metals was published in
the Issue 25 of September 2005 of Practical Welding Letter. To
read the article Click on
Design for Adhesive-bonding
Adhesives selected primarily for their load carrying capacity
are designated structural adhesives.
A new page was published to include an enlarged chapter
devoted to Adhesive-bonding design and a thorough
presentation on properties.
See it by clicking on Adhesive Joint Design.
Adhesives
Adhesives are liquids or pastes that must be converted to a
solid state. This change is commonly achieved through
polymerization or curing.
Adhesives have limited storage life, beyond which they cannot
be used.
They must be stored in accordance with manufacturers'
recommendations.
Adhesives are characterized by chemical type and by the
following properties:
color, consistence as high viscosity liquid or paste, number of
components, worklife (minutes), curing time and temperature,
peel strength, overlap shear strength, maximum usage
temperature.
There are many curing processes available, and many
adhesive systems use more than one; therefore each process
should be considered individually.
Curing systems:

UV curable and radiation curable adhesives use ultraviolet

light or other radiation sources to initiate curing, which allow a
permanent bond without heating.
Light-cure adhesives contain photoinitiators that absorb light
energy to begin polymerization. Upon exposure to the
appropriate light source, the adhesive cures fully in less than a
minute. Some thermoplastics, including many grades of
polycarbonate, contain additives that block UV radiation and
cannot be used with UV-cure adhesives. The new visible lightcure adhesives have solved this problem.
Heat Curing: a relatively simple process easily controlled by
maintaining consistent cure times and temperature. The
process usually aids adhesion and forms thoroughly crosslinked polymer networks.
Phenolic, melamine and urea formaldehyde resins are
thermosetting adhesives that offer strong bonds and good
resistance to relatively high temperatures, harden and cure by
a chemical reaction at elevated temperature.
Thermoplastic adhesives soften repeatedly with temperature
and harden when cooling. They can be repeatedly softened by
heat and hardened or set by cooling, which allows parts to be
removed or repositioned during assembly.
Moisture curing in certain reactive systems: polymerization
starts under the influence of ambient moisture.
Curing by exclusion of oxygen is that occurring in anaerobic
adhesives, after the application excludes the contact with air.
Cross linking polymerization occurs in two-part adhesive
systems that are made up of a base polymer resin and a
catalyst. When mixed, the adhesive starts to polymerize,
forming a thermoset polymer, assisted or not by applied
external heat.
Types of adhesives
The most important adhesives for structural and engineering
applications are: anaerobics, epoxies, reactive acrylics,
polyurethanes, reactive hot melt polyurethanes,

cyanoacrylates and silicone based. There are also specialty

adhesives available for extreme temperature conditions.
Anaerobics are also classified as chemically reactive onecomponent (liquid or paste) adhesives, that remain liquid
when exposed to air. They cure by polymerization upon
elimination of oxygen in air. They are useful for coaxial joints
and gasketing, for locking and sealing threaded assemblies, for
retaining bearings and bushings, with good resistance to
environment.
Epoxy adhesives are chemical compounds used for joining
components. Curing (polymerization) develops under heat and
pressure, or for two parts (resin and catalyst) after mixing, at
room temperature, but may be hastened by heat. They
present strength and durability for a vast range of applications.
They have good resistance to ambient factors.
Acrylic adhesives are known for their excellent environmental
resistance and fast-setting times when compared to other
resin systems. Some two component (two-part) systems do
not require careful mixing, such as modified acrylics, in which
accelerator is applied to one surface, adhesive to a second and
the surfaces are joined. They present good environmental
resistance.
Polyurethane adhesives, in either one or two parts, provide
excellent flexibility, impact resistance, durability, good gap
filling and sealing properties, best when strength requirements
are low, with ability to foam. They have fair to good resistance
to ambient factors.
Hot melt polyurethane reactive adhesives are solid at room
temperature. They melt at relatively low temperature and their
viscosity while molten can be designed according to
applications. They cure to termosetting condition that resists
further melting. Cured adhesive (from ambient moisture,
without heat) have excellent temperature and environmental
resistance.
Cyanoacrylates, also known as instant adhesives, are onepart liquid systems that harden rapidly at room temperature
by the action of residual moisture when pressed into thin films
to form strong bonds between substrates. They are solvent

free and resistant to many environmental factors, with less

odor and more flexibility and are suitable for bonding metal,
plastics and rubber.
Silicone adhesives and silicone sealants have a high degree of
flexibility and very high temperature resistance. Silicones are
One or two part viscous liquids or pastes. They are used as
adhesive sealants for welded joints, as silicone rubber gaskets
and heat resistant seals, and as coatings for moisture and
corrosion resistance.
Adhesive Selection
The selection of an adhesive for Adhesive-bonding depends on
application requirements, processing considerations and
environmental conditions. Selecting the most suitable adhesive
is a critical factor that contributes to the success of the
application.
One should start by specifying service requirements of joints,
such as operating forces, temperature, and design life.
Then one should consider the suitability of candidate
adhesives to the type of substrates to be joined.
Process consideration should be taken into account to verify
feasibility of application and absence of operations susceptible
of impairing the base material properties.
One should consider Quality provisions, by establishing strict
procedures to be followed by all involved. Suitable periodic
tests of test pieces should be established as well as types of
Non Destructive Testing to be performed on finished parts.
The most suitable candidates should be listed in a
comparison table of properties and costs for evaluation.
Finally a few prototype joints using a few of the most
promising candidate adhesives should be prepared by
Adhesive-bonding for actual testing and evaluation.
Surface preparation and strict adherence to proven
application procedures, including ambient temperature and
humidity conditions, is essential to the success of the
applications.

Personnel should be trained in use of adhesives because of

health and safety concerns variably applicable to different
systems. In particular some materials may be toxic, irritant, or
produce respiratory and skin or eye problems if not dealt with
cautiously.

However well informed and expert you may be, you could
certainly benefit from a vast repository of online
authoritative welding information.
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When tested as per ASTM D1002 and ASTM D695, an Epoxy bonded joint will give
lap shear strength of abour 2900 to 5000 PSI and compressive strength of 11,000 PSI.