The Feasibility of Adhesively Bonding Preprinted Steel for Structural Applications

Priming steel before adhesively bonding leads to more reliable, durable joints. This paper demonstrates first the desirability of priming steel before bonding and then the feasibility of using preprinted steel to accomplish this goal. To demonstrate this thesis unpainted, Uniprimed and preprimed steel adherends are compared in appropriate situations. These conditions include surface preparation, exposure to hostile environments, and strain level of the preprimed steel adherend. Since steel often undergoes forming before joining, the effect of strain level on adhesive bonding was evaluated. It was found that neither painted material required surface preparation prior to bonding to obtain good adhesive performance. Both primed adherends showed greater resistance to exposure to hostile environmental conditions, with the preprinted substrate performing better than the Uniprimed substrate. In conclusion, preprimed steel can be adhesively bonded in structural applications.