Abstract

Adhesive bonding is almost certainly the oldest ‘industrial’ joining system known to man and has been in use for millennia. Today it is key to holding our most modern aircraft together, it keeps us safe in our cars, ensures our mobile phones don’t fall apart and even plays a key part in medicine both internally and externally. Despite such extensive deployment, there is still widespread concern about its reliability and remarkably little understanding of the fundamental processes that lie behind this wonder material.

Over the course of this talk I will endeavour to demystify aspects of adhesive technology with a wide range of application examples and to highlight key considerations when deploying effective bonding solutions. In almost every situation, adhesion must be considered as a system where three major players always exist, the substrate (or adherend), the adhesive and the surface – ignore any one of them at your peril!

Dr Ewen Kellar has been working in the field of adhesive technology for over 30years with the majority of this time being based at TWI where he has worked in almost every industrial sector and with countless applications, helping clients solve their sticky problems. He is now the company's consultant within this field with active interests in surface preparation, plasma pre-treatments, spectroscopy, mechanical testing and the development of 'real' kissing bonds.