Adhesive Families

Abstract

Adhesive bonding, which addresses applications in an ever-growing number of industrial, handicraft and service sectors, does not exist as a specific research activity in its own right. Every user of bonding technology – from surgeon and handyman to car manufacturer and aeronautical launch vehicle designer – has specific needs, especially in the area of adhesives. In order to answer to these needs, suppliers are diversifying and extending their product ranges in terms of conditioning and bonding processes. This results in some very difficult choices, making it necessary to have at one’s disposal “navigational tools” in an extremely complex network (Fabris and Knauss 1990; Pocius 2002). Because the basis of adhesive formulation is inevitably macromolecular in nature, polymer science is likely to shed valuable light in this area. By using our knowledge of the principles underlying these formulations, and also the basic physical chemistry rules that apply, we can establish a general classification system, allowing us to direct our decision-making processes toward those product “classes” best suited to each specific application. On this basis, adhesives can be presented according to the following main discussion:

• The basic rules to establish a classification system based on the process used to achieve the transformation of an adhesive into a bonded joint.

• The main characteristics of adhesives for which the transformation is based on a physical phenomena.

• The main characteristics of adhesives for which the transformation is based on a chemical process.

• The main properties of adhesives used as Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives.

Appendix

Main ideas can be reached using former published books and handbooks in which readers can obtain an overview on the science of adhesives in Polymer synthesis, P. Rempp, E.W. Merill (1986), Huetig and Wepf Verlag Basel, Heidelberg, NY, Adhesive Technology Handbook (1985), Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, Handbook of Adhesives, 2nd Ed. (1985), Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY, Encyclopedia of Polymer Science & Engineering, 2nd Ed. (1989), B. Hardman and coll., John Wiley & Sons, NY, Thoughened plastics I: Science and Engineering (1993), American Chemical Society, Washington, Adhesion and Adhesive Technology (2002), Marcel Dekker ED., NY, Adhesion Science and Engineering, Vol. I. and Vol. II The Mechanics of Adhesion (2002), D.A. Dillard and A.V. Pocius Eds., Elsevier.