Abstract
Abstract The present paper first discusses the problems that occur when thermoplastic-based fibre-composite materials are bonded using structural engineering adhesives, such as epoxy and acrylic adhesives. A double-cantilever beam joint has been employed and it is shown that the value of the adhesive fracture energy, Gc , is very low when a simple abrasion/solvent wipe pretreatment is used for the thermoplastic fibre-composites. This arises from crack growth occurring along the adhesive/composite interface, which is relatively weak when such a pretreatment is employed. Secondly, it is demonstrated how very effective a corona surface pretreatment may be for these materials. Indeed, when such a pretreatment is used, interfacial crack growth is no longer observed but the crack now propagates either cohesively in the adhesive or through the composite substrate; both failure modes lead to relatively high values of Gc , with the former resulting in the highest values of Gc being recorded. Finally, from measurin...
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