On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:49:23 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:

In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:21:22 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:

There was a fairly long article in The Wall Street Journal on how the
car makers are using new kinds of adhesives to glue and rivet cars
together, to reduce weight. This is being done with aluminum and
steel. One problem with aluminum is that it's hard to spotweld.

"Super Glue Holds Your Car Together - Those Aren't Bolts Holding Your
Car Together", James R. Hagerty and Mike Ramsey, page B1 of the 9
September 2014 issue of the WSJ.

Unfortunately, it's behind a paywall, but just about every library in
the country gets the WSJ.

Joe Gwinn

Thanks, Joe. I'll be using that one.

Welcome.


Often you can sneak up on a WSJ article without going through the
paywall. In this case, they've changed the headline of the article, so
it's a little trickier.

This does it. In Google or whatever, search on "Super Glues Are the
Secret to Making Cars Lighter." Use the quotes, or not. Try the WSJ
article. Usually, you can get in (I just did). There will be popups
asking you to subscibe but you can just close them.

I'll try this too. I have paid electronic access to the WSJ (costs a
little more when got as a package with the dead-tree version), but many
RCM folk get neither.


Another joining method under development is laser welding. It solves
some problems they've had with conventional spot welding in AHSS
(Advanced High-Strength Steel).

Or laser weld plus glue, for all the same reasons?

Joe Gwinn

I don't know yet. I've been working on other things, but I'll be
getting to it soon.

We had a discussion here a week or two ago in which it was pointed out
that the use of adhesives in car assembly is a bit different from
their use in aircraft. Especially when they're using a combined method
-- rivet bonding or weld bonding -- you have to look carefully at what
they're trying to accomplish. Sometimes they're just trying to avoid
peel and cleavage loads on the adhesive by using the rivets or welds
at the edges, as in aircraft assembly. Other times they're trying to
use the adhesive to avoid repreated shear loads on the metal
fasteners, which tends to loosen the rivets or overload the welds.

When I get to it, and write something, I'll post a link.

--
Ed Huntress