Accelerated curing of structural adhesives: influences their thermal and mechanical properties

Structural adhesives are increasingly employed in high-performance engineering applications, where reduced processing time and reliable joint integrity are critical requirements. In industrial environments such as automotive, aerospace, and offshore structures, accelerating curing cycles without compromising mechanical performance represents a significant technological challenge. This study investigates the effect of accelerated curing on the thermal behavior and mechanical performance of structural adhesives and adhesive metal joints. Numerical simulations were carried out to theoretically evaluate the behavior of the adhesive and compare it with the experimental results. Thermal analysis via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) enables the identification of ideal accelerated curing conditions for acrylic and epoxy chemical-based adhesives, demonstrating that this type of thermal analysis is valuable for defining the curing parameters for structural adhesives. Using the temperature and time defined by thermal analysis, pull-off tests were carried out, and the results confirmed that, when the correct curing conditions were used, pull-off values such as those observed for adhesive joints following complete curing, as recommended by the manufacturers, were obtained. Numerical simulations made it possible to predict the characteristics of the systems with the studied adhesives and metal sheets, corroborating the experimental results.