In structural bonding, even the best adhesive cannot hold on to a dirty or incorrectly prepared surface. The most common cause of the adhesive failure seen in tests (our failure surface article) is surface preparation.
Common mistakes
- The cleaning cloth or the solvent itself being contaminated
- Exceeding the open time and not recording it
- Not tracking the adhesive's shelf life and mix ratio
- Not recording the cure temperature and time
Related reading: What is a special process? · Supplying aerospace and industry in the Gulf · ERP for special-process companies
Which of these is in your records?
Most of these mistakes slip past when records are read one by one by eye, and auditors look for them first. The real question is which one sits in your own records. Upload your process records and your failure surface photo to NTB SpecPro and see which points carry risk, why, and what to do next.
The NTB SpecPro bonding module helps you keep your process records, evaluate the failure surface from a photo and see the likely causes. Final evaluation stays with the authorized engineer.
Prepared by NTB SpecPro process quality engineering; reviewed by an engineer holding the European Adhesive Engineer (EAE) qualification. Questions: info@ntbspecpro.com
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