Enhancing mechanical properties of adhesive laminates joints using ultrasonic vibration-assisted preprocessing

Ultrasonic high-frequency vibration can effectively improve the fluidity of adhesive thereby allowing adhesive to fully and more evenly permeate the surface structure of composite laminates. This effect can enhance the mechanical properties of composite adhesive bonding joints. In this study, carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (CFRE) composite laminates were used as the substrate and different ultrasonic vibration-assisted preprocessing time and power are considered. The results show that for an ultrasonic vibration-assisted preprocessing power of 500 W, the optimum ultrasonic vibration-assisted preprocessing time is 20 min, and the damage load of adhesively bonded joints increases by 71.09% when compared to non-preprocessed joints. The percentage of adhesive area in the lap joints increased by 30.74% compared to non-preprocessed joints measured by software Image J. For an ultrasonic vibration-assisted preprocessing time of 20 min, it is shown that the optimum ultrasonic vibration-assisted preprocessing power is 400 W and the damage load of adhesively bonded joints increases by 74.57% compared to the non-preprocessed joints. In this case, the percentage of adhesive area in the lap joints was 32.53% higher than the non-preprocessed joints.