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Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Manufacturing Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2021) | Viewed by 18333

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Marco Alfano

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Interests: adhesive bonding; surface pre-treatments; interface modeling & identification; architected materials and interfaces

Dr. Fabrizio Moroni

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

Engineering and Architecture Department, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy
Interests: adhesive bonding; surface preparation; finite element modeling; composite materials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The mandatory carbon dioxide emission reduction schemes established by national governments from across the globe have induced an irreversible shift toward low-emission mobility in the strategic field of transportation. Priority has been given to weight reduction through the clever use of a consistent mix of materials, such as aluminum alloys and fiber reinforced composites.

However, joining still represents one of the industrialization hurdles that prevents the potential of lightweight materials from being fully realized. Adhesive bonding has surfaced as a candidate technology that can supplement/replace the existing techniques for modern vehicle construction. The structural bonding of the body-in-white (BIW; i.e., assembly of frame and panels) is perhaps the most important area of application, and because the surfaces that are bonded are relatively large, the structural bonding increases the stiffness, fatigue life, and the crash resistance. While it does provide advantages, adhesive bonding brings in its own issues, for example, the need for consistent surface preparation techniques and tailored adhesive formulations, the need for structural health monitoring techniques that can cope with potential disbonds, and so on. These issues are currently hampering a wider application of adhesive bonding not only in the automotive field, but also in aerospace applications. The Special Issue aims to represent a platform for researchers, in both academia and industry, in order to disseminate their ideas and most recent results in this area. In particular, original research articles and review papers are welcome, and topics include, but are not limited to, the following subjects:

The adhesive bonding of metals, polymers, and fiber reinforced composites, including hybrid joining techniques;
Surface pre-treatments for metals and polymers, including mechanical, chemical, and physical treatments;
Formulation and characterization of novel adhesives, including graded and mixed adhesives;
Mechanical characterization techniques for adhesives and adhesive joints, including the assessment of strength, fracture toughness, and long-term durability;
Structural health monitoring techniques;
Modeling techniques, including the analytical and numerical models for the analysis of strength and fracture toughness under static and/or dynamic loading;
Development and characterization of dismantlable adhesives for the recycling of structural materials.

Dr. Marco Alfano
Dr. Fabrizio Moroni
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Joining lightweight materials
Structural adhesives
Surface pre-treatments
Joints strength and fracture toughness
Fatigue crack growth and impact strength
Structural health monitoring
Interface modeling and identification

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 8988 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mode I Crack Propagation Experimental Analysis of Adhesive Bonded Joints Comprising Glass Fibre Composite Material under Impact and Constant Amplitude Fatigue Loading

by Alirio Andres Bautista Villamil, Juan Pablo Casas-Rodriguez, Alicia Porras Holguin and Maribel Silva Barrera

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4380; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164380 - 5 Aug 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2404

Abstract

The T-90 Calima is a low-wing monoplane aircraft. Its structure is mainly composed of different components of composite materials, which are mainly bonded by using adhesive joints of different thicknesses. The T-90 Calima is a trainer aircraft; thus, adverse operating conditions such as hard landings, which cause impact loads, may affect the structural integrity of aircrafts. As a result, in this study, the mode I crack propagation rate of a typical adhesive joint of the aircraft is estimated under impact and constant amplitude fatigue loading. To this end, effects of adhesive thickness on the mechanical performance of the joint under quasistatic loading conditions, impact and constant amplitude fatigue in double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens are experimentally investigated. Cyclic impact is induced using a drop-weight impact testing machine to obtain the crack propagation rate (da/dN) as a function of the maximum strain energy release rate (G_Imax) diagram; likewise, this diagram is also obtained under constant amplitude fatigue, and both diagrams are compared to determine the effect of each type of loading on the structural integrity of the joint. Results reveal that the crack propagation rate under impact fatigue is three orders of magnitude greater than that under constant amplitude fatigue. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction)

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13 pages, 3610 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Bonding Gap Control Methods for an Epoxy Adhesive Joint of Carbon Fiber Tubes and Aluminum Alloy Inserts

by Witold Rządkowski, Jan Tracz, Adam Cisowski, Kamil Gardyjas, Hubert Groen, Marek Palka and Michał Kowalik

Materials 2021, 14(8), 1977; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14081977 - 15 Apr 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5993

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare two methods of epoxy adhesive bond gap control: one with a geometrical (mechanical) solution and the other with glass beads, which have the diameter of the desired bond gap and are mixed with an epoxy adhesive. The adhered materials were carbon fiber composite tubes and aluminum alloy inserts, which were used as wishbones in a suspension system of a motorsport vehicle. It was assumed that the gap thickness would be equal to 0.2 mm and the length of a bond would be 30 mm. The internal diameter of the tubes was 14 mm and 18 mm, whereas the inserts’ external diameter was 13.6 mm and 17.6 mm. Their surface has been subjected to mechanical treatment with sand paper starting from 240 grit up to 400. The adhesives used were EA 3425 and EA 9466 cured at 80 °C for 2 h. The results showed that the glass beads method provides more consistent and better results as compared to the geometrical (mechanical) method. Further study in the area of fatigue and interfacial failure modes could be useful. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction)

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18 pages, 7724 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Mechanical Pretreatments on Damage Mechanisms and Fracture Toughness in CFRP/Epoxy Joints

by Chiara Morano, Ran Tao, Marco Alfano and Gilles Lubineau

Materials 2021, 14(6), 1512; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14061512 - 19 Mar 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2591

Abstract

Adhesive bonding of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) is a key enabling technology for the assembly of lightweight structures. Surface pretreatment is necessary to remove contaminants related to material manufacturing and ensure bond reliability. The present experimental study focuses on the effect of mechanical abrasion on the damage mechanisms and fracture toughness of CFRP/epoxy joints. The analyzed CFRP plates were provided with a thin layer of surface epoxy matrix and featured enhanced sensitivity to surface preparation. Various degrees of morphological modification and fairly controllable carbon fiber exposure were obtained using sanding with emery paper and grit-blasting with glass particles. In the sanding process, different grit sizes of SiC paper were used, while the grit blasting treatment was carried by varying the sample-to-gun distance and the number of passes. Detailed surveys of surface topography and wettability were carried out using various methods, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact profilometry, and wettability measurements. Mechanical tests were performed using double cantilever beam (DCB) adhesive joints. Two surface conditions were selected for the experiments: sanded interfaces mostly made of a polymer matrix and grit-blasted interfaces featuring a significant degree of exposed carbon fibers. Despite the different topographies, the selected surfaces displayed similar wettability. Besides, the adhesive joints with sanded interfaces had a smooth fracture response (steady-state crack growth). In contrast, the exposed fibers at grit-blasted interfaces enabled large-scale bridging and a significant R-curve behavior. While it is often predicated that quality composite joints require surfaces with a high percentage of the polymer matrix, our mechanical tests show that the exposure of carbon fibers can facilitate a remarkable toughening effect. These results open up for additional interesting prospects for future works concerning toughening of composite joints in automotive and aerospace applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction)

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22 pages, 39719 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Experimental Study of the Influence of the Surface Preparation on the Fatigue Behavior of Polyamide Single Lap Joints

by Francesco Musiari and Fabrizio Moroni

Materials 2021, 14(4), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14041008 - 20 Feb 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1996

Abstract

The low quality of adhesion performance on polymeric surfaces has forced the development of specific pretreatments able to toughen the interface between substrate and adhesive. Among these methods, atmospheric pressure plasma treatment (APPT) appears particularly suitable for its environmental compatibility and its effectiveness in altering the chemical state of the surface. In this work, an experimental study on adhesively bonded joints realized using polyamide as substrates and polyurethane as the structural adhesive was carried out with the intent to characterize their fatigue behavior, which represents a key issue of such joints during their working life. The single lap joint (SLJ) geometry was chosen and several surface pretreatments were compared with each other: degreasing, abrasion (alone and followed by APPT) and finally APPT. The results show that the abrasion combined with APPT presents the most promising behavior, which appears consistent with the higher percentage of life spent for crack propagation found by means of DIC on this class of joints with respect to the others. APPT alone confers a good fatigue resistance with respect to the simple abrasion, especially at a low number of cycles to failure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction)

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15 pages, 6325 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of the Arrangement of Mechanical Fasteners on the Static Strength and Fatigue Life of Hybrid Joints

by Marek Rośkowicz, Jan Godzimirski, Andrzej Komorek, Jarosław Gąsior and Michał Jasztal

Materials 2020, 13(23), 5308; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13235308 - 24 Nov 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2244

Abstract

This paper presents the results of experimental research and numerical calculations regarding the static strength and fatigue life of hybrid joints. In the experiments, specimens built as single-lap adhesive–mechanical joints (hybrid joints) were tested. In a two-stage process of the failure of the hybrid joints, the adhesive joint was damaged first. Therefore, it was assumed that the assembly of fasteners closer to the edge of the overlap (beyond the ranges recommended for mechanical joints) limits the negative impact of the peeling phenomenon on the strength and performance properties of hybrid joints. The specimens used in the experiments were prepared from composite elements (i.e., carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP)), as well as from the aluminum alloy 2024T4. Because the detection of fatigue damage in composite materials is a complex problem, computed tomography was used to evaluate the degradation of the composite material. Experimental and numerical comparative analyses of the static strength and fatigue life of hybrid joints with adhesive and mechanical joints confirmed the assumptions made. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction)

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17 pages, 13301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of a New Shape of Test Specimen for Block Shear Impact Test

by Andrzej Komorek, Jan Godzimirski and Marek Rośkowicz

Materials 2020, 13(7), 1693; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13071693 - 4 Apr 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2043

Abstract

This paper reports and discusses an experimental comparison of metal specimens for impact strength research of adhesive connections with different shapes of the upper element. The top element of the specimen of the cuboid shape was replaced with a disc-shaped element. The experimental investigations were supplemented with dynamic numerical calculations of the tested cases. The results of the experimental studies indicate that the material applied to the produce of the top element of the block specimen deformed plastically as a result of applying the load, which further hinders the interpretation of already problematic investigation results. The numerical analysis confirms exceeding the yield point, by stresses, of the material that the specimen elements were made of. Modified specimens were characterized by only little greater repeatability of test results and greater impact strength caused by plastic deformations of the cylindrical specimen element. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adhesive Bonding Lightweight Materials in Modern Vehicles Construction)

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