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EXPERIMENT 6
PULL OFF ADHESION TEST
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The experiment conducted is aimed to give students a better understanding on the concept of
coating adhesion and relate the effect of different curing time, curing temperature and effect
of water on the mechanical properties of the coating material. The technique used for this
experiment is the Pull off adhesion tester (ASTM D 4541) which is a method commonly used
to measure the coating adhesion. This test is able to quantify the strength of the bond between
substrate and coating.
Epoxy
Steel plate
Elcometer Acessories
20 Dollies
Dollu Cutter
3.0 PROCEDURE
1.
The surface of the dolly and the steel plates were cleaned by abrading it and ensuring
that it is free from oil, moisture and dust to ensure a good bond between the dolly and
2.
the surface.
The surface of the dolly was prepared and the coating where the dolly is to be applied
by roughening it with abrasive paper. These areas were then degreased by a suitable
3.
cleaning solvent.
A regular Araldite which is a two component epoxy paste was mixed and used within
4.
one hour. The two components were mixed in equal portion before applied.
For the first condition of curing, the adhesive was allowed to cure for about 1 hour at
5.
room temperature after being applied onto the dolly and the strength was measured.
For the second curing condition, 2 dollies were prepared and placed into an oven at
6.
120oC for 2 hours and the strength of the dolly was measured.
For the third condition, the second dolly immersed in water bath for 5 days and then
7.
8.
applied.
The hand wheel or nut was slackened on the adhesion tester. The dragging indicator
9.
was set to zero (0) on the scale and the claw was engaged carefully with the dolly
The adhesion tester was held steadily with one hand to prevent rotation and tightened
the hand wheel and evenly applied increasing force to the dolly and thus stress was
also added onto the coating. This method was continued until the coating fails and the
dolly is removed from the surface or until the specified stress is reached .The value is
10.
read from the position of the dragging indicator after the test is complete.
According to the standards, the load should be applied uniformly. The hand wheel can
be turned in four or five stages to make a complete revolution. The wrench should be
11.
12.
13.
adhesive or also due to the incompatibility of the adhesive and the coating
The test area was observed to give additional information about the type of failure:
adhesion and cohesion between different layers of the coating.
Loading fixtures (or test elements or dollies) - The dollies must be cleaned sufficiently
concentrated will fracture long before maximum stress has been reached elsewhere.
Use a "non-aggressive" adhesive which does not alter the coating chemically thereby
weakening it.
An adhesion test dolly is bonded to the coating using an adhesive. The Elcometer
106 and 108 adhesion tester houses a spring arrangement which applies a lift force to
the dolly as the tension is increased. When the coating is pulled off the surface, an
indicator on the scale shows the numerical value of adhesion expressed in terms of the
force per unit area required to remove the dolly. Inspection of the dolly face is required
to determine the failure mode.
Elcometer 106
Trial 1
2 hours at oven 120C
7.5 MPa
(Fail too
small scale )
2 hours at Room
5 MPa (FAIL)
Temperature
1 week 120C
Test fail/Too
immersed in water
small scale
1 week Room
Test fail/Too
Temperature
small scale
immersed in water
Elcometer 108
Trial 2
-
Trial 1
7.5 MPa
(FAIL)
Trial 2
-
5 MPa
(PASS)
-
5 MPa (PASS)
4.5 MPa
(FAIL)
-
4.5 Mpa
(PASS)
4 Mpa (PASS)
4.3 Discuss the results and explain the difference between the cases.
In this experiment, Elcometer 106 and 108 are used for the same adhesive with
different curing conditions. In general, elcometer 106 gives lower pull-off strength
compared to elcometer 108. Elcometer 108 has higher efficiency compared to 106, based
on the observation on the surface after the pull-off test. Elcometer 106 leave adhesive
remaining on the steel plate while Elcometer 108 leaves clean surface after pull off test.
Things that are different is curing temperature. The result showed that dollies treated at
room temperature gives high pull-off strength compared to dollies treated in high curing
temperature. For samples that cured in water bath, the pull-off strength his lower for
Elcometer 106 and 108 compared to the samples at room temperature and oven. Wet
environments make the mechanical stability of composites bit low due to water sorption of
the matrix material. The hydrophilic groups of epoxy resins absorb water molecules that
alter the physical and mechanical properties of the resin. Water works as a plasticizer
leading to a softening of the adhesive. The interaction of absorbed water molecules also
cause decrease of mechanical properties and degradation of interface bonding
Impact of cure conditions:
-
Low cured temperature will result in slow cure and low crosslink density.
High cured temperature can cause high exotherms that may actually cause the system
REFERENCES
http://www.dfdinstruments.co.uk/topics/Study5-ASTM-D4541.htm