Journal of Adhesion, Vol.79, No.12, 1183-1205, 2003
Aging characterization of advanced polymer systems
Aging of three advanced polymer systems used as adhesives in the aerospace industry is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with attenuated total reflectance (ATR-FTIR), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).Since significant changes in mechanical properties were observed for AF191, FM(R)73, and FM(R)5 bonded joints, the purpose of this work was to identify whether there is any chemical and physical degradation for the adhesives used in these joints. Each of the adhesives has been evaluated after exposing to Hot/Wet and Hot/Dry environments for 5000 h. They were also thermally cycled in conditions that represent subsonic and supersonic cruise. Hot/wet exposures demonstrated a greater amount of possible degradation than hot/dry or thermally cycled exposures. The hot/wet aging condition resulted in more pronounced O-H, C-H, and N-H infrared absorptions, reduced glass transition temperature of adhesives, and reduced tensile and fracture properties of corresponding bonded systems. Overall, these adhesives were chemically very stable under the environments to which they were exposed, even though some of the joints showed reduced fracture toughness due to the exposure. Additional work is needed to understand the mechanism causing the change in joint properties when exposed to these environments.
Keywords:adhesive bonding;environmental exposure;durability;chemical degradation;attenuated total reflectance;X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy