Bonding to advanced materials
Following extensive research and development, Oxford Advanced Surfaces has created a series of adhesion promoters based on its unique platform technology, Onto™ Highly Reactive Chemistry. These products are designed to be quick and simple to use, providing bonding solutions for advanced materials when other surface preparation techniques, such as sanding, are either not practical or just not effective enough.
Applications
Onto™ adhesion promoters prepare difficult-to-bond advanced materials for:
- Adhesive bonding to dissimilar materials such as metals for more robust bonded assemblies
- Coating – prevention of delamination of paints and coatings
- Bonding of honeycomb core materials such as Nomex® to composite skins for sandwich structures
- Printing – prevention of delamination of metallic and decorative inks
Onto™ products | EP1000 series
The Onto™ EP1000 series of adhesion promoters is designed to prime the surfaces of difficult-to-bond materials for epoxy, and polyurethane coatings, paints and inks.
We have designed a range of solutions so they can be integrated into your production process regardless of your application and without the need for large capital expenditure on additional equipment.
- Formulations tailored for conventional coating techniques such as spray, dip and brush coating
- Solutions to suit different substrate forms (panels, sheets, 3D shapes, films)
- Practical shelf life and pot life
- Quicker and easier than traditional time-consuming processes
- No aromatic hydrocarbons, for reduced environmental impact
- Suitable for in-line and off-line processing
CFRP preparation for coating
Sanding is a common way of preparing CFRP for coating and painting, but this process is time consuming and labour intensive. Furthermore, the level of roughening is critical – insufficient sanding will result in a poorly adhered coating whereas over-sanding will lead to damage of the part, marring the visual appearance and potentially compromising the structural integrity of the carbon fibre. Onto™ treatments can be used as an alternative method of CFRP preparation for components that need to be painted, coated or bonded with adhesive. They are simple to use, quick to apply and remove most of the sanding process.
A Formula 1® constructor wanted to improve the adhesion performance of semi-crystalline thermoplastic components in a vehicle. This substrate was selected due to having optimum properties for the application; however, it suffered from adhesion failure during testing. OAS’s SB1050 was trialled as an adhesion promoter for this material system and found to improve the bond strength significantly; the product is now being used in the 2015 & 2016 season cars.
For components that are painted or coated, delamination of the coating is detrimental to product performance. Onto™ EP1000 demonstrates improved bonding of a range of coatings to plastic and aluminium substrates.
An industry-standard cross-hatch tape test was used to assess the samples; this aggressive test gives an excellent indication of the degree of bonding of coatings to the substrate. The test was carried out according to ASTM D3359-08 using Scotch tape 610. In all cases, the Onto™-treated samples passed the test at level 5B, while the control samples all failed.
