“Parameter Cross Interaction of Fully Automated Adhesive Application Processes for Automotive Applications”

Presentation at the EURADH & ADHESION 2016, in cooperation with BMW

Thomas Bäck was involved in a research project that dealt with cold setting multi-component adhesives used for crash relevant components in the automotive industry. The aim was to determine the interdependencies of the process parameters in a fully automated adhesive bonding process with the intention to reduce the amount of destructive testing during quality control. A cold setting two component polyurethane adhesive was used for this test series. During the tensile strength test the 10 most significant process parameters were modified to determine which ones have the biggest influence on the bond quality in comparative studies. This knowledge is important because it helps to reduce the quality assurance process. During the examination it could be observed that several parameters are related to each other. Some combinations of process parameters should be emphasized, for example: The data after 4 hours curing indicate that at higher curing temperatures a high flow rate is advantageous and vice versa. The data for the lap shear strength after 24 hours curing show that the longer the barrel is in service and the lower the curing temperature the more important it is to ensure a short wet bonding time. The results clearly prove that not only individual parameters, but their combinations have to be regarded in order to reduce destructive testing in quality control. Thus, it is inevitable to reconsider conventional quality control systems and establish new systems which are suitable to measure multiple parameter interactions.

(Source: “Analysis of Parameter Interactions of Fully Automated Adhesive Application Processes in the Automotive Industry”
Paulina Sierak, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerson Meschut, Prof. Dr. Thomas Bäck)