Epoxies for metals and plastics

Thanks Ed. I can really use this!

You make it all worthwhile. d8-)

I remain impressed by what Armstrong A-12 could do for us 31 years ago. Still made, still at a price that indicates they are proud of the stuff.

Not directly on topic, but today I picked up some kevlar roving from the Habitat for Humanity store. So if anyone needs an ounce or so of kevlar fiber let me knew.

Cheers Ed - there's a LOT of info on that site. Thanks.

Great. I hope you find it to be useful.

A lot has been done to improve high-strength adhesives in recent years. Of interest to most of us is the toughened versions of epoxy and polyurethane that provide great shear strength while also having excellent peel and cleavage strength. The aerospace-grade expoxies, particularly, have been able to produce shear strengths of 10,000 psi for at least the last 40 years or so, but they peel right off if the substrate is flexible.

That's why they came up with rivet-bonding. The sole purpose of those rivets on aircraft wings today is to prevent the edges of a lap joint from lifiting and initiating a peel failure. If you see rivets on an aircraft wing arranged in a straight line, or in two rows, rather than a traditional rivet pattern, that's what's going on.

When you look at how they're bonding car parts today, you realize that the problem has largely been solved. Where you see rivets (in the new Fords and Buicks, for example), they're there primarily to hold things together while the adhesives cure.

Masterbond seems to be on top of that, and they're a bit more forthcoming than Dow or Loctite.