Quote Originally Posted by peteeng View Post
Hi Ard - Well that research is pretty much a pointless exercise. There are many epoxies with over 100MPa flexural strength so I'm not sure what drives this sort of work. Adhesive strength of epoxies is very high no need to try to better it. For the best adhesion waft a propane flame over the surface prior to applying the epoxy. The flame boils off surface moisture and activates the surface for better adhesion ie it increases the surface energy. Look up plasma surface prep or corona prep or flame prep. Its now std practice in aerospace and automotive bonding. Laser prep is also appearing. Surface moisture would be the number one issue to getting a good bond assuming the surfaces are clean. Look up water break test that's a good thing to do as well.

Surface Preparation before applying WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

Flame Treating Plastics - Epoxyworks this works for all surfaces

cheers Peter

video showing flame prep at BMW BMW Car Factory ROBOTS - Fast Manufacturing - Bing video

acrylic and urethane adhesives are not moisture sensitive so drying the surface is not recommended as they use moisture for curing....
That is Reactive ion etching or Plasma etching, no flame involved.