Keywords
Citation
(1998), "Aerospace adhesive", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 70 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1998.12770fad.023
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited
Aerospace adhesive
Aerospace adhesive
Keywords Adhesives, Aerospace industry, Ciba
Aircabin are specialist suppliers of aerospace plastics and are based in Laupheim, southwest Germany. They manufacture interior parts such as headrack doors, side wall panels, ceiling panels, door and door frame panels for the Airbus aircraft; and their expertise is also increasingly used in non-aerospace applications such as in the railway industry.
A recent contract renewal for door and door frame panels faced Aircabin with a challenge. The need to rationalise, combined with stringent flame retardance requirements, led the company to cut costs by changing its production methods. They decided to use thermoforming, which involved using a new material PPSU for the production of the parts. The Aircabin engineers found that the performance of their usual brand of adhesive was not up to scratch with this thermoplastic. But experimentation with Ciba Specialty Chemicals' range of adhesives showed that Uralane 5774 A/B had the best performance over a wide range of temperatures (Plates 10 and 11). Its excellent peel strength displays a particular advantage.
The parts were built up using a sandwich structure, where phenolic prepregs and honeycomb were bonded onto PPSU. Show-through was prevented by the adhesive's pale colour an advantage for the bonding of visible parts.
Plate 10 Substrate bonding in the manufacture of interior panels
Plate 11 Airbus interior cabin panels bonded
with Uralane 5774 A/B polyurethane
Uralane 5774 A/B is a two-component polyurethane adhesive which is self-extinguishing and flexible for bonding engineering plastic and metal substrates, with minimal surface preparation. It is especially appropriate for use with thermoplastics, such as PPSU, which are often difficult to bond. A single thermoplastic material can show considerable variation in the properties that determine the strength of the bond.
The critical factors in the success of aircabin's door and door frame panels contract were the characteristics and performance of Ciba's Uralane 5774 A/B adhesive.
For further details contact Kay Roberts, TOPS Dept, Tregartha Dinnie. Tel: +44 (0) 1442 89 00 00 Fax: +44 (0) 1442 89 18 86.