Investigation of a fiber-reinforced plastic/rubber adhesive system using statistical experimental design

To investigate the effect of various factors on the adhesive strength of a fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP)/rubber adhesive system, a statistical experimental design method was employed. The characteristic factors used were environmental condition, manufacturing pressure and adhesive type. The FRP/rubber adhesive system was manufactured with carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy composite as FRP, unvulcanized ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber and Chemlok adhesive purchased from Lord Chemical Ltd. The samples were treated in four types of environmental aging; no treatment, heat aging, hot/wet treatment, and thermal shock. The peel strength was measured using a 90 degrees peel test. As a result of the experimental design, the major factor was identified as the manufacturing pressure. The optimum condition was obtained and optimum adhesive strength was predicted. The experimental adhesive strength obtained using optimum conditions was close to the predicted value and the experimental design was confirmed to be useful for this adhesive system. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.