Adhesive bonding technology gained popularity especially in the field of light weight design due to multi-material construction. It replaces traditional joining methods, e.g. welding, riveting, etc. and is found in automotive, aerospace, civil engineering and other applications.

At CEST we are focusing on the following:

• Characterization of bonding performance and failure pattern
• Impact of substrate pre-treatments
• Impact of environmental conditions

Special focus on automotive application includes:

• Lab scale automotive electrophoretic coating process
• Broad coverage of environmental aging tests
  – Salt spray test (EN ISO 9227)
  – Cyclic corrosion tests (e.g. VDA 621-415)
  – Cataplasma test (DIN EN ISO 9142)

Testing of adhesive bonds mainly performed are:

• Lap shear tests (according to DIN EN 1465)
• T-Peel tests (according to EN ISO 11339)
• Evaluation of failure pattern according to EN ISO 10365 and DVS 3302
• Others possible on request