Abstract

There is an increasing trend towards the substitution of mechanical joining by adhesive bonding in carbon fibre elements (CFRP) in aeronautical sector. However, it is mandatory to perform a previous step of surface preparation in order to obtain the best adhesive properties to the surface. There are some certified superficial preparation methods by the aeronautical sector, being shot peening, grinding and peel-ply the most used ones. All of them have the disadvantage of not being automatable. Hence, new potentially automatable methods for surface activation are being studied. In this work it has been studied the use of UV laser radiation as a surface activation method previous to adhesive bonding, and its behaviour has been compared to peel-ply activated samples. To this end, an advanced surface characterization has been performed, by means of surface free energy determination, surface chemical composition determination by XPS measurement, surface roughness and morphology observation with SEM. Mode I fracture toughness test have been performed for all surface activation methods. The obtained results show that adhesive bonding of UV laser treated samples have mode I fracture toughness comparable values to those obtained for peel-ply and peel-ply plus grinding samples. Furthermore, all the failure modes observed are accepted by the sector normative. This makes that UV laser surface preparation could be considered as an alternative for certified surface method of CFRPs.

Abstract

The automotive, aerospace and renewable energy generation industries have replaced significantly the use of traditional materials, such as steel and aluminum, by reinforced fiber composites. It has recognized that joints drilling and screwing joints damage the fibers introducing a higher concentration of stresses. That is why the application of structural adhesives, as a method of joining in reinforced composites, has increased in recent years. Delamination is the most critical failure mode of composite materials resulting in stiffness and structural strength losses.

This works studies the behavior against delamination under mode I and mode II interlaminar fracture of adhesive bonded joints in carbon-epoxy composite materials, using structural adhesives of epoxy and acrylic bases. For the execution of the joints, different surface treatments have been employed: sanding, grit blasting and peel ply technique, allowing to make a fracture resistance comparision study. The double cantilever beam (DCB) and end notched flexure (ENF) tests configuration were used to determine stress-strain behavior and fracture toughness for mode I (GIC) and mode II (GIIC), respectively. Surface modifications have been evaluated by  contact angle measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results are shown in the same situation. The experimental results obtained show that, even if not showing the same delamination tendency for both fracture modes, the strain energy release rate are higher for an improved of wetting properties and an increase of surface roughness.