On 9th, 10th and 11th of October 2013, Johan Leijtens followed a post accademic course on adhesive bonding the the the technical university of Delft (TU-Delft)
The 12 participants where very diverse (from luxury yacht builders to people active in building constructions) which goes to show that adhesives are all around us.
According to Johan Leijtens, adhesive bonding can be put on a list of technologies (together with soldering and crimping) which are underestimated as to their influence on total product reliability. Next to this adhesive bonding like soldering is more like a crafstmanship than a science as a lot of the final quality of the joints procuded is determined by
- the skills and process awareness of the operator
- proper handling of the equipment and materials
- The right quality of materials and surface treatments
- environmental conditions
Although the course in itself doesn’t turn a nitwit into an expert, a solid background and overview of the processes and issues is provided. This in turn will allow to avoid some pitfalls and mitigate some others if issues in the field of adhesive bonding pop-up.
All in all a learning experience in a friendly atmosphere
