The 8 rules for your bonding success

If you understand the basic principles of successful adhesion, you'll gain more than just a good bond. Here are our eight golden rules for a firm bond every time:

1. Provide sufficiently large bonding surfaces and bonding gaps: Bonding force increases with the bonding surface. Allow enough space for the adhesive.
2. Achieve even voltage distribution: Avoiding stress peaks is critical. A successful design distributes forces evenly across the bonding surface.
3. Compression, tensile and shear stress preferred: These types of stress are the most favorable for bonded joints.
4. No peeling or bending stress: Avoid constructions that generate peeling forces. Tongue and groove joints are a smart approach here.
5. Avoid eccentric force application: Forces should be applied as centrally as possible.
6. Prevent plastic deformation in either component: Component stability is important for the durability of the joint.
7. Suitable surface conditions for bonding: The surfaces must be clean and adequately pre-treated to ensure optimum adhesion.
8. Observe curing conditions: Each adhesive requires specific conditions for curing - temperature, time and pressure should be right.

Your advantages at a glance

• Versatile material bonding possible: Adhesives offer the unique ability to bond different materials such as metal, plastic, and glass together. This opens up new design possibilities for engineers and enables the construction of hybrid components that would be difficult to realize using traditional methods
• No compromising materials due to drilling: As bonding does not require mechanical fasteners such as screws or rivets, the structural integrity of the materials is maintained. Drilled holes can often lead to weak points that can lead to cracks or fractures under stress.
• High resistance to dynamic forces: Adhesive bonds are particularly resistant to vibrations and changing loads. They dampen vibrations and have a positive effect on the durability and safety of the entire construction, which is particularly advantageous in the automotive and aviation industries.
• Two-dimensional connection, lower-temperature load: The two-dimensional distribution of the adhesive means that loads are transferred evenly, which reduces stresses. In addition, the high temperatures that occur during welding, for example, are eliminated, which means that temperature-sensitive materials are not damaged or deformed.
• Compensates for tolerances: Adhesives offer a certain flexibility, allowing them to compensate for manufacturing tolerances. This contributes to a better fit and seal of the components, which ultimately facilitates assembly and improves the overall quality of the product.
• Additional properties and tasks: Adhesives can not only bond two components together, they can also take on additional functions such as electrical conductivity or structural tasks, e.g., by using fillers.
• Protect and seal: If the adhesive is dispensed and applied appropriately, it can also seal and protect components against environmental influences. This is used very frequently, especially when encapsulating sensors and chips.

Correct design for maximum force application

Design adjustments are crucial for realizing the full benefits of bonded joints. The most important thing to note is that strength can be increased by overlapping components without mechanical processing. In the case of linear bonded joints, for example, additional bending is often suitable for increasing the surface area. An additional ring placed on the inside or outside also improves the strength of pipe constructions. Alternatively, the two components can also be bonded together in an overlapping manner by adjusting the diameter of one of them to increase the bonding area.

By observing these rules, engineers and designers in various industries can significantly increase the efficiency and quality of their products.