Electric arc discharge as a

treatment method of low

carbon steel surface and its
influence on bond strength of
adhesively joined substrates

1
 Objectives
This project aims to :
 Study the effect of electric arc discharge
treatment on the surface of steel substrates
 Study the changes in bond strength by using
different adhesives
 Study the effect of physical changes due to
treatment on bond strength
 Study the effect of chemical changes due to
treatment on bond strength
2
 Definitions
 Adhesive: is a substance used to bond two
or more surfaces together.
 Adhesion: is the attraction between the
surfaces of two bodies, the two adjacent
surfaces may be of different chemical
compositions.
 Treatment: is a surface preparation made
to obtain satisfactory and consistent
quality in adhesive-bonded joints.
3
 Procedure
 Three different types of adhesives were
used (Permabond E32, Araldite 2011 and
Permabond ESP 109)
 18 set of samples were produced
 Each set contain 5 samples
 Each set was treated by changing the
treatment parameters

4
 Procedure
 Arc power source (TIG) and two axis
substrate manipulator (milling machine)
were used to treat the samples
 The electrode is used to treat sample
surface in two dimensions by varying
different parameters (current, traveling
speed and tip distance)

5
Procedure

6
 Procedure
 The pre-treated substrates were bonded
using different adhesives to produce a lap
shear test specimen according to DIN
1465
Adhesive layer

7
 Procedure
The strength of adhesive joints were
measured after curing using shear tension test

8
 Procedure
 Prior to treatment the samples were
degreased to obtain reference samples
 The effect of electric arc discharge
treatment on surface topography was
investigated using SEM
 surface composition was analyzed using
EDX technique

9
 Results

SEM surface topography of untreated substrate at 1000X

10

SEM surface topography of degreased substrate at 1000X

SEM surface topography of treated substrate (treatment 1) at 1000X

11

SEM surface topography of treated substrate (treatment 2) 1000X

 (treatment 3)

(treatment 4) (treatment 5) 12
 (treatment 6)

13

(treatment 7) (treatment 8)
(treatment 9)

14

(treatment 10)
 (treatment 11)

(treatment 12) (treatment 13) 15

 (treatment 14)

(treatment 15)
(treatment 16)
16
 25

Tensile Strength (MPa)

20

15

V=75 cm/min.

V=75 cm/min.
V=25 cm/min.

V=25 cm/min.

V=50 cm/min.

V=50 cm/min.

V=50 cm/min.

V=75 cm/min.
10

0
untreated degreased 10A 20A 10A 20A 40A 10A 20A 40A
Current (A)

Joint strength for treatments at tip distance of 2 mm (E32)

Permabond E32

25.000

20.000
Tensile Strength (MPa)

15.000
V=25 mm/min.

V=25 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.
10.000

5.000

0.000
untreated degreas ed 10A 20A 10A 20A 40A 10A 20A 40A
Current (A)

17
Joint strength for treatments at tip distance of 5 mm (E32)
 V=25
cm/min. Araldite 2011 at 2mm

25
Bonding Strength (MPa)

20

15

V=50 cm/min.

V=50 cm/min.
V=25 cm/min.

V=50 cm/min.

=75 cm/min.
=75 cm/min.

=75 cm/min.
cm/min.
10

V=25
5

V
V

V
0
untreated degreased 10A 20A 10A 20A 40A 10A 20A 40A
Current (A)

Joint strength for treatments at tip distance of 2 mm (Araldite 2011)

Araldite 2011

25.000
Tensile Strength (MPa)

20.000
V=25 mm/min.

V=25 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.
15.000
degreased
untreated

10.000

5.000

0.000
10A 20A 10A 20A 40A 10A 20A 40A
Curre nt (A)

Joint strength for treatments at tip distance of 5 mm (Araldite 2011)

18
 ESP 109 AT 2mm

25

20

Bonding Strength (MPa)

15

V=50 cm/min.

V=75 cm/min.
V=25 cm/min.

V=50 cm/min.

V=75 cm/min.

V=75 cm/min.
V=50 cm/min
V=25 cm/min
10

.
5

0
untreated degreased 10A 20A 10A 20A 40A 10A 20A 40A

Joint strength for treatments tip distance of 2 mm (ESP 109)

ESP 109 at 5mm

25.000

20.000
Bond Strength (MPa)

15.000
V=25 mm/min.

V=25 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.
V=50 mm/min.

V=50 mm/min.

V=75 mm/min.
10.000

5.000

0.000
untreated degreas ed 10A 20A 10A 20A 40A 10A 20A 40A
Current (A)

19
Joint strength for treatments tip distance of 5 mm (ESP 109)
 Conclusions
From the previous results we conclude that :

 EDX-analysis of sample surfaces indicates that the

electric arc discharge interact with the surface of low
carbon steel. The organic ingredients present on the
as-received sample surface were removed by
electric arc treatment.
 SEM image analysis indicates that topographical
changes takes place when they were treated by
electric arc.
 When low carbon steel treated by electrical arc
discharge, an in creasing in the initial bond strength
would result, depending on the type of adhesives.
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 Conclusions
 Increasing oxygen content on sample
surface by increasing the current was
measured using EDX-analysis.
 Increasing oxygen content on sample
surface by increasing the travel speed was
measured using EDX-analysis
 The best treatment method, that produces
the highest bond strength in this project for
all types of adhesive was treatment No.11

21
 Conclusions
 Electric arc discharge as a pretreatment
method for adhesion process could be
easily automated in the industry.
 As a travel speed a speed of 50 cm/min is
recommended
 Electrical arc discharge as a treating
method is a friendly and compatible with
the environment

22
 Conclusions
 In this regard, more work has to be done
to justify electrical arc discharge treatment
and to develop it to a mature treatment
technology.

23