Method for enhanced bonding of thermoplastic composites
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsMegha Sahu, Om Prakash, Shantanu Bhattacharya, Poonam Sundriyal
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a method of enhancing the shelf-life of an activated surface of a thermoplastic material, including: coating at least a portion of a surface of the thermoplastic material with at least one adhesion promoter to provide a coated surface; and treating the coated surface with plasma to provide the activated surface of the thermoplastic material; wherein the activated surface has a contact angle in the range of from about 0 to about 40°; and wherein the presence of the at least one adhesion promoter is effective to maintain the contact angle in the range of from about 0 to about 40° for a time of about 10 days or greater.
Claims14
A method of extending the shelf-life of an activated surface of a thermoplastic material, comprising:
- coating at least a portion of a surface of the thermoplastic material with at least one adhesion promoter to provide a coated surface;
- and
- treating the coated surface with plasma to provide the activated surface of the thermoplastic material;
- wherein the activated surface has a contact angle in the range of from about 0 to about 40°, and
- wherein the presence of the at least one adhesion promoter is effective to maintain the contact angle in the range of from about 0 to about 40° for a time of about 10 days or greater,
- wherein the at least one adhesion promoter is PEG-silane.
A method of forming a thermoplastic composite structure, comprising:
- providing a first thermoplastic part and a second thermoplastic part;
- coating at least a portion of a surface of the first thermoplastic part with a coating layer comprising at least one adhesion promoter to provide a coated surface;
- drying the coating layer at a temperature of about 70 to 100° C. to thereby ensure stability of the coating layer;
- treating the coated surface with plasma to provide a first activated surface;
- and
- bonding the first thermoplastic part and the second thermoplastic part at the first activated surface with at least one adhesive to form the thermoplastic composite structure;
- wherein the first activated surface has a contact angle in the range of from about 0 to about 40°;
- and
- wherein the presence of the at least one adhesion promoter is effective to maintain the contact angle in the range of from about 0 to about 40° for a time of about 10 days or greater;
- and
- wherein the at least one adhesion promoter is PEG-silane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.