Experimental analysis of steel joints bonded with automotive grade hot setting structural adhesives

Recent trends in car body manufacturing indicate that the use of a consistent mix of lightweight materials in conjunction with adhesive bonding, not only allows substantial weight reduction, but can also drive down costs and potentially enables more intelligent designs. Yet, presently, it is highly desirable that the introduction of structural adhesives is made with minimum impact on the automotive body framing systems. Adhesives commonly deployed in car body production (i.e. body-in-white) are applied without any prior surface preparation and final curing is carried out during the baking process that follows the electrophoretic coating. Several structural adhesives have been tailored to the conditions dictated by the automotive production process. The aim of this work is to assess the mechanical properties of adhesive joints bonded with automotive grade hot setting epoxy adhesives employed for the assembly of frame and panels. Single-lap and T-joints were fabricated and adhesive hardening was carried out following the typical curing cycle employed in the process chain of automobile production. The resulting mechanical properties were assessed before and after exposure to a standard accelerated thermal cycling under controlled humidity. The evaluation of the mechanical behavior was done through a combination of testing and analysis, which included the assessment of fracture surfaces using optical microscopy to resolve the locus of failure.