Investigation on the effectiveness of silane-based field level surface treatments of aluminum substrates for on-aircraft bonded repairs

The aim of this study was to assess the role of silane-based field level surface treatment processes on aluminum substrate with a film-type epoxy adhesive. Two silane-based surface treatment compositions based on a dilute aqueous solution of GPS (3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane) and a hybrid sol-gel solution of TPOZ (zirconium n-propaxine) and GPS were used. The surface morphology of the treated aluminum substrates was characterized by profilometry. Contact angle measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were carried out to analyze surface wettability, which in turn is related to the surface chemistry and cleaning efficiency for bond performances. Quantitative evaluation of the joint strength and environmental durability presented that two GPS- and TPOZ-GPS based sol-gel coatings improved the initial adhesion and environmental durability, and hence can be considered promising alternative surface treatment techniques to the existing on-aircraft anodizing process for bonded repairs. Finally, observation of the fracture surfaces revealed that a loss of interfacial integrity between the adhesive and aluminum substrate was the dominant mechanism behind the permanent loss of adhesion; the loss of interfacial integrity induced the low-strength interfacial adhesion failure mode.