Adhesion and Adhesives

The Adhesion and Adhesives group investigate a range of joining technologies (and their structural integrity) from adhesive bonding with structural adhesives to hybrid composite-metal joining with engineered surface profiles.  Fundamental issues such as surface energy, surface pre-treatment, intrinsic adhesion and joint performance over a wide range of test conditions are studied.  Extensive use is made of fracture mechanics in the research.  Of particular interest has been the study modes I, II and mixed-mode I/II loading and the application of high speed and fatigue have been extensively investigated within the group, driven by the requirements of the automotive and aerospace industries.  The development of fracture standards for adhesive joints, composites and polymers has been another significant activity within the group and a number of these have been published as ISO standards, e.g. ISO-25217 (mode I fracture in structural adhesive joints) and ISO-15114 (mode II fracture in composite laminates).