Water based adhesive primers on aluminum substrates

The number of aluminum alloy bonding applications has been increasing recently in the automobile industry. Primer coating of aluminum substrates is one of the main processes used to promote bond performance. Solvent based organic primers have been used for a long time but environmental regulations now require the substitution of volatile organic compounds (VOC) by alternate materials such as water based adhesive primers. However, the bond strengths obtained with many water based primers are generally lower than for solvent based ones. Water based primers which have some reactive functional groups have been proposed recently but such primers require special treatment. This paper describes a study conducted to optimize bond strength using a water based adhesive as a primer in the adhesive bonding of anodized aluminum.