The use of adhesive bonding to join metals, composites, plastics and other materials is increasing across many industries. The aircraft industry widely adopted metal to metal bonding after World War II and this has since spread to different material combinations and other industrial sectors including modern aerospace, automotive, marine and wind energy.
Bonded joints offer many advantages over conventional methods such as bolting, riveting and welding. Weight saving is key but other benefits include an improved distribution of stresses by eliminating the need for holes and welds, easier design and assembly of large area joints or curved external surfaces and an integrally sealed joint.