Epoxy-based composite adhesives with improved lap shear strengths at high temperatures for steel-steel bonded joints

Abstract

High-performance room temperature-cure epoxy structural adhesives utilizing simplified formulation are developed. The developed structural adhesive consists of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and novolac epoxy blend as a base resin, micrometer-sized silica particles as a reinforcing filler, and triethylenetetramine as a curing agent. The developed ambient temperature-cure epoxy structural adhesive with optimized formulation exhibits outstanding properties including high glass transition temperature of 95°C, high thermal stability with degradation temperature at 5% weight loss of 364°C, exceptionally high rubbery plateau modulus of 320 MPa, good flame-retardant characteristics with limiting oxygen index of 40, and high single lap shear strength for single lap steel-steel bonded joint of 548 MPa at the temperature of 80°C. The silica-filled DGEBA/novolac epoxy composite adhesive is a potential candidate for applying as a structural adhesive for construction with long-term durability. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.