Mechanical behaviour of double side high performance PSA adhesive applied to painted naval structures

Abstract

The use of adhesives constitutes a well-established technology in the aeronautical and automotive industries. A rising interest in the use of these materials has appeared in naval industry, where using adhesives in non-structural areas implies the reduction of welding to fix low weight components, making the joining process cheaper and faster. Among the different families of available adhesives, double-sided Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs) are considered of great industrial interest. A high performance PSA has been employed to join specimens of carbon steel coated with an epoxy painting scheme approved by the naval sector. The present paper reports for the first time the influence of some experimental application variables of this PSA-coated naval steel system on its mechanical behaviour. Standard shear and tensile tests have shown that the curing conditions, surface preparation and paint roughness have considerable effects on the resistance of these adhesive joints.