ABSTRACT
Substantial savings in weight reduction or manufacturing costs are often cited as general inducements for bonding. Or, bonding may be chosen because the particular materials of construction are not amenable to other forms of joining. Several joining situations should also be mentioned which have potential applications both in aerospace and other manufacturing. They involve the combination of spot welding, riveting, or metal stitching with adhesive bonding. Certain generic adhesive families are conducive to the creation of higher bond durability than other families. Also, there are significant performance differences within a single family of similar chemical description. General good performance of unstressed aluminum joints was found after several years of exposure if the aluminum surface had been prepared by etching in hot sulfuric-acid–dichromate solution. The importance of including simultaneous stressing and environmental exposure in assaying the potential durability of bonded aluminum joints has been widely demonstrated, and a variety of stressing fixtures have been mentioned in the literature.
