Environmental aging of the Ti-6Al-4V/FM-5 polyimide. adhesive bonded system: implications of physical and chemical aging on durability

Ti-6A1-4V/FM-5 polyimide adhesively bonded double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens were aged for 12 months at elevated temperatures (177°C and 204°C) in one of three different environments: ambient atmospheric air pressure and reduced air pressures of 2 psi (13.8 kPa) and 0.2 psi (1.38 kPa), to assess bond durability. The FM-5 polyimide adhesive (Tg~ 250°C) is based on a polyimide developed by NASA Langley Research Center and is produced by Cytec Industries, Inc. Bonds aged for different times were tested to measure the critical strain energy release rate as a function of the temperature and environment. The greatest loss in bond strength occurred after aging in air at 204°C. Following thermal rejuvenation of the aged bonds at 300°C for 2 h, part of the strength loss could be recovered. This strength recovery was attributed to the reversal of physical aging in the adhesive resin. Further evidence for physical aging, which is a thermo-reversible phenomenon, was obtained from tests conducted on neat resin specimens using DMA (dynamic mechanical analysis) and DSC (differential scanning calorimetry). The unrecovered portion of the loss in bond strength following longer-term aging was attributed to chemical aging/degradation of the bonded 'system'. The 'system' in this study includes the adherends, the adhesive, the surface pretreatment (chromic acid anodization, CAA), and their respective interphase/interface regions. Evidence for chemical aging was also seen from weight loss, and Soxhlet extraction data on neat resin specimens.