A Review of Certain Recent Work on the Durability of Aluminium Alloy Bonded with Epoxide and Phenolic Adhesives

Abstract Single lap joints of aluminium alloy, bonded with a number of structural adhesives, have been aged at 100% or 50% relative humidity (r.h.) at 50°C for up to 10000 hours. The adhesives used have included a simple epoxide and some modified phenolics and epoxides. Whilst joints are not significantly weakened on exposure at 50% r.h., significant weakening occurs at 100% rh. There is an initial fall in strength in the early stages of exposure, but after this period joints remain fairly stable, retaining approximately 40–60% of the strengths they had before exposure. Water diffusion coefficients in the adhesives have been obtained from experiments on the mass uptake of water by films of the adhesives. Water concentration profiles and overall levels of water in adhesive joints have been calculated from diffusion coefficients, and these show that the initial fall in strength is controlled by water diffusing through the adhesive layer. Joint strengths recover significantly when they are dried out. The behaviour of joints can be interpreted by there being ion-pairs at the interface. Water reduces the interionic force by raising the permittivity of the surroundings, and this is reversed when the water is removed.