Different types of adhesion tests

esion testers are used to determine how well aHis is a very simple test and requires a utility knife. To
coating bond to a substance or how well an adhesivedetermine if the adhesion of a coating to another
bonds two different substances. For engineeringsubstance is adequate or not the knife is picked at the
requirements and demands coatings are becomingcoating. The result or the performance of this test
very popular. For coating to function properly it isdepends on eth degree of difficulty to remove the
important that the adhesive sticks to the substancecoating and the size of the removed coating. Both
properly. Coating is generally used for high engineeringthese degrees are taken into consideration to
use and there are a number of methods throughdetermine the test results.
which we can determine as to how well has coatingWith the help of a knife and a cutting guide two cuts
bonded to a substance.are made on the coating surface. At an angle called
Some of the well recognized methods for adhesionthe vertex the point of knife is used to lift up the
testers are knife test, tape test and pull off tests. Aftercoating from the material. This is a very subjective test
a test is performed it is important to record if the testand the value or result depends on the person
failed with the adhesive or the coating. Pull off test isperforming it. A coating with a high degree of cohesive
the most commonly used test. It is a quantitative teststrength may appear to have worse adhesion.
where a loading fixture known as a stub is fixed by anThe third kind of test is the tape test. This is performed
adhesive to a coating. By using a pull off adhesionwhen pressure sensitive tapes are applied and
tester pressure is applied t the surface until the stub isremoved over cuts of the coating. There are two
pulled off. The force applied to pull of the stub or thevariants in this test: X cut tape test and cross hatch
force with which the stub withstood the pressuretape test. The former one is used at job sites and the
determines the test.latter one is used in laboratories on coating less than 5
The strength is counted in pounds per square inch. Themils.
test fails only at the weakest point. This is the mostThese different adhesion testers are performed so
widely used test for determining the bond. In thisthat we can determine the bond between two
method the pressure applied is the maximum thansubstances or between a coating and a substance. All
compared to other tests. Therefore most prefer tothese tests are very important for an
use this test. Adhesion testers function on mechanical,engineer’s point of view and only after the test
hydraulic or pneumatic pressure.succeeds can they be used for any activity or
The knife test is another method for adhesion testers.purpose.