This review discusses the types of adhesives in use — including anaerobics, epoxies, reactive acrylics, polyurethanes, reactive hot melt polyurethanes, and cyanoacrylates, as well as some specialty adhesives for extreme conditions. Properties, advantages and drawbacks, end-use applications, health and safety issues, surface treatments, methods of application, curing, and various world standards for adhesives are also addressed. This reference tool contains 438 abstracts from Rapra's Polymer Library Database.

From the Introduction: “...Engineering and structural adhesives are distinguished from other adhesives by being high strength materials that are designed to support loads, often substantioal loads. These adhesives are also often subjected to cycling high and low temperatures and aggressive fluids or the weather. In general they are used for the bonding of rigid structures, although some degree of flexibility or toughness is often desirable in the adhesives to counter the effects of movement, impact or vibration. The most common materials bonded with structural adhesives are metals, glass, ceramics, plastics and composites...”

Rapra Review Reports contain a brief overview of the topic, followed by extensive references, with abstracts, from the Rapra database. They serve as condensed, valuable research tools for scientists, technologists, and other researchers working with rubber or plastics materials.

Target Audience: Any reader in industry or academia who is concerned with adhesives in engineering and structural applications.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Types of Structural Adhesives

Applications for Adhesives

Advances in Adhesives

Durability of Adhesively Bonded Structures

Applying and Curing of Adhesives

Standards for Adhesives

Health and Safety Issues

Future Trends

Abstracts from the Polymer Library Database

Index