Comparison of fatigue and creep response of a candidate automotive adhesive

The desire to use lightweight materials to reduce weight in automotive structures has resulted in the need to develop new fastening technologies. The use of welds, screw type fasteners, and bolted joints traditionally used in solely metallic structures may be inappropriate for many polymeric and composite structural components. With this in mind, an obvious alternative fastening technology would include adhesive joints. To make use of adhesive joints, and ultimately the wide class of lightweight materials, it is necessary to understand all aspects of this attachment technology, including the adhesives that comprise the joint. This work will focus on the mechanical response of a candidate automotive adhesive. Specifically, predictive relationships between creep and fatigue response will be developed and verified through comparison with experimental results.