Replacing welding with adhesive bonding: An industrial case study

Abstract Welding is a common joining technique, well established in the engineering world. This method, however, can have several disadvantages, such as the residual stress left in substrates from the heat associated with the process. Adhesive bonding solves many of these disadvantages but even though the use of adhesive to bond materials has grown, this technique is still not entirely trusted in many industrial sectors, where the use of more proven traditional joining methods is preferred. The aim of the present work is to compare the performance of welding and adhesively bonded joints, when used in a real structural component. To this aim, a component representative of those used in the construction and agricultural industry has been considered in this study. This component connects a hydraulic actuator to the boom of the industrial machinery. Since this connector is usually of welded construction, it represents a suitable candidate for the study. Experimental tests and numerical analyses were both performed on the bonded and welded structure. Given the results obtained from the experimental tests, it was concluded that adhesive bonding could be a suitable replacement for welding in structural applications. Even with the overlap reduced by 70% the static strength of the bonded joints was higher than the welded assembly.