08/01/2019

Introduction to Joining: A Process

and a Technology
Common Manufacturing Processes :
 Casting
 Forming
 Machining
 Joining

Properties of material that affect the

selection of manufacturing process:
 Mechanical Property
 Physical Property
 Chemical Property
 Dimensional Property
Joining :
 It a fabrication process where two or more elements are
put or bring together to make a single part.
 It is normally called as secondary manufacturing process
and can be classified as:

 Mechanical Joining (Mechanical Forces)

[Nuts & Bolts, Clamps, Rivets]

 Adhesive Bonding (Chemical Forces)

[Epoxy Resins: M-seal, Fevicol]

 Welding (Physical Forces)

[Welding, Brazing and Soldering ]
Each type of joining technique offers different kind of
properties such as :
 Load carrying capacity
 Reliability
 Compatibility in joining of similar or dissimilar
materials
 Fitness for use in different environments
 Production cost.
 Choice of Joint

 Type of joint : Temporary or Permanent

 Requirements of the service: Temperature, Corrosion,
and Reliability
 Metallurgical Compatibility
 Physical, Chemical and Metallurgical properties of
materials to be joined
 Nature of loading : Static or Dynamic
 Economy
 09/01/2019
Mechanical Joining
Mechanical fastening and integral mechanical attachments
are the two ways in which mechanical forces can be used to
join structures.
• Mechanical Fastening
• Integral Attachment/Join

Rivet Joint
Nut and Bolt Joint

Dovetail Joint
Mortise and Tenon joint
 Mechanical Fastening Integral Attachment
 More common type mechanical  Growing Popularity
joint  Limited to polymers, metals and
 Used for all materials ceramics
 Adds to part count  Reduces part count
 Difficult to automate  Facilitates automate
 Assembly labour is intensive  Assembly labour is negligible
 Adds relatively nothing to  Parts and mold/form costs can be
part/mold cost increased
 Accidental disassembly from  Accidental disassembly from
loosening flexing or impact
Advantages
 Allows intentional disassembly.

 No change in materials microstructure and composition.

 Facilitate maintenance, repair, upgrade and disposal.

 Allows intentional motion in dynamic structure.

 Allows joining of different types of materials.

 Simple and requires little or no special preparation.

 Low in cost and requires limited skilled operator.

 Joint efficiency is high.

Disadvantages
 Accidental disassembly may occur without precaution.

 Stress concentration occurs at the point of fastening.

 Joints allows fluid intrusion or leakage.

 Labour intensive for some fastening.

 Adds weigh penalty over other joining processes.

 For some integral joints the cost may be high.

 Types of Fastened Joints
Bearing - type Joint Friction - type Joints

• Fastener act as pinning points to • Fastener creates significant amount

prevent movement of joint element of clamping force on the joint

• Nails, rivets, pins • Only bolts and screws

Factors Affecting Mechanical Joints

 Type of loading

 Stress concentration

 Method of hole making

 Mechanical properties of fastener

 Failure Mechanism in Mechanically Fastened
Joints

Conditions to be satisfied:
 Fastener holes will not be deformed by the loads from the fastener
 Fastener plates will not fail in tension by overload
 Fastener will not shear by overload
 Fastener will not tear out of the joint plates at edges 11/01/2019
Purpose of Preload
 By tightening the bolt or screw all joint members are
subjected to an initial clamping force called preload.

 Higher preload improves resistance to externally applied

tensile and shear loads.

Fatigue loading
 Select material with high YS or large difference in YS and
UTS.
 Treat all parts and joints with care.
 Prevent crack nucleating sites at the surface.
 Reduce load excursions as much as possible.
 Integrally Attached Joints
Actual geometric features of parts or structural elements themselves
are used to cause interference and interlocking.
Classified as:

 Rigid attachments
 Elastic attachments
 Plastic attachments

 Materials like ceramics, concrete that tend to exhibit little elasticity

produces rigid attachments
 Elastic attachments are produced by elastically deforming the
interlocking material.

 In plastic attachments mechanical joining resulted by plastic

deformation.
Rigid interlock features used in Some important plastic interlock
assembling of wooden parts features
Other Mechanical Joining Methods
 Stapling and stitching or sewing
 Laces, lashings, knots, and wraps
 Couplings and clutches
 Magnetic connections and fasteners
In a overlap joint as shown in figure, the use of two 3mm diameter
rivets is compared to the use of structural adhesive applied over the
full 15mm overlap. The assembly is under a load (tension) of 1.5kN.
Find the actual stress at point A or C. Find the stress (shear) in the
rivets and alternatively in the adhesive. Find the joint efficiency for
the rivets and the adhesive.

A C
 15/01/2019
Adhesive Bonding
Adhesive Bonding is a process of joining materials with the
aid of a substance, acting as a chemical agent, capable of
holding those materials together by surface attachment
forces.
Materials being joined are adherends and the bonding agent
is adhesive
Adhesive bonding is fundamentally a chemical bonding
process.
Classified as:

 Structural Adhesive Bonding

 Non-structural Adhesive Bonding
 Structural Adhesives Non-structural Adhesives

 Sustain or transmits loads  Used for holding or tacking

purpose
 Tolerate service  Sealing against fluid
environment intrusion or leakage.
 Provides needed service  Electrical or thermal
life and permanency insulation
 Imparts damage tolerance.  Wear resistance
Constituent of Adhesives

 Adhesive base or binder

 Hardener

 Accelerants, inhibitors, or retardants

 Diluents

 Solvents or thinners

 Fillers

 Carriers or reinforcements
Various Forms of Adhesive Bonding

Natural Adhesive:

Animal Based
Plant Based
Mineral Based

Synthetic Adhesive:

Synthetic organic Adhesive

Synthetic inorganic Adhesive
Types of Adhesive Bonded Joints

Lap Joint

Double Lap

Single Cover Lap

Double Cover Lap

Scarf Lap
Functions of Adhesives
 To join materials together by transmitting stresses from
one element of a joint to another.

 They fill the entire joint and create bonding forces over
the entire area of the joint.

 Ability to produce light weight joint elements thus light

weight assemblies.

 To provide sealing to prevent intrusion of fluid or gases.

 To improve resistance to fatigue and to join thin or

fragile parts.
Advantages
 High load carrying capacity possible.
 Minimal stress concentration
 Applicable to very thin to thick adherends.
 Little or no change to the chemistry/structure of the
adherends.
 Suitable for joining similar and dissimilar materials.
 Seal against many environments and insulates against
electricity/heat.
 Minimizes galvanic corrosion; provides smooth contours.
 Can be faster and cheaper than other joining processes.
Disadvantages

 Requires careful joint surface preparation and rigid

process control
 Direct inspection is not possible; NDT method requires
 Curing times can be long
 Repair of defective joint is virtually impossible.
 Upper service temperature is limited (for organic types)
 Sensitive to environment, and attacked by solvents.
 Many adhesives are subject to attack by bacteria,
vermins, rodents etc.
 16/01/2019

Theories for Adhesion Bonding

 Electrostatic theory of adhesion

 Diffusion theory of adhesion

 Mechanical theory of adhesion

 Adsorption theory of adhesion

Modes of Failure in Adhesive - Bonded Joints

 Cohesive Failure
In adhesive
In adherends

 Adhesive Failure
Along adhesive - adherends interface

 Mixed Mode Failure

Causes of Failure in Adhesive Bonded Joints

 Adhesive is not compatible to adherends

 Improper adherend preparation

 Internal stresses

 Improper joint design

 Processing errors

 Operating environment
Key Requirements for Quality Adhesive Bonding

 Joint cleanliness for adhesive bonding

 Ensure wetting for adhesive bonding

 Proper choice of adhesive for particular adherends and the

prevailing environment

 Proper joint design for adhesive bonding

Joint cleanliness for adhesive bonding
Solvent Cleaning
(Vapour Degreasing, Solvent Wiping, Immersion and Spraying)
Intermediate Cleaning
Chemical Cleaning (Detergent, alkaline, acid cleaning (pickling))
Mechanical Cleaning (Wire brushing, adhesive scrubbing, sanding, scraping)
Physical Cleaning (Flame, plasma or laser ablation; electrical corona
discharge)
Chemical Treatment
Surface chemical conversion process for metal
Application of a dilute solution of the active agent in the adhesive as primer

Ensuring Wetting For Adhesive Bonding

Water Break Free Test
Contact Angle Test
Proper Choice of Adhesive and Adherends

 Capability for Bonding Specific Adherends

 Suitability to Service Loading Requirements.

 Suitability for The Service Environments

 Meeting Production Requirement

 Having Acceptable Cost

 Posing No Health or Safety Hazards.

 Proper Joint Design

 Providing maximum bonding area.

 To ensure loads to be transmitted to the joint in

favourable loading directions.

 To ensure uniformity in thickness of the adhesive layer.

 Ensure adsorption or expulsion of volatile components.

 To facilitate adhesive application, curing and

inspection.
Methods of Improving Bonded-Joint Efficiency

 Larger Bonding Area

 Proper Wetting

 Adhesive should be loaded in the direction of its

maximum strength

 Proper Joint Design (Joint should operate below

the YS of the adhesive)