{"id":2595,"date":"2016-12-01T21:01:22","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T21:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T19:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:14:38","slug":"destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/","title":{"rendered":"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Destructive Testing<\/h1>\n<p>Did you ever have one of those Monday mornings where you just wanted to throw something at the wall?\u00a0 Rip things apart?\u00a0 Smash things on concrete?\u00a0 Light something on fire?\u00a0 Irradiate something?<\/p>\n<h2>At Permabond, we don\u2019t wait for Monday morning \u2013 we break things every day!<\/h2>\n<p>Destructive testing is not only essential to understanding adhesion properties \u2013 it can be a whole lot of fun.\u00a0 However, there are challenges in writing appropriate destructive testing protocols.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Specimen selection \u2013 In order to put the bonded joint into an Instron for shear testing, it must be of certain shape and size. For example, you may purchase a zinc coated component but to find lap shears with the identical zinc coating and same surface finish might be impossible.<\/li>\n<li>Adhesive application \u2013 if your actual assembly has an induced gap, be sure to induce the same gap in the lap shear. Apply and cure the adhesive in the same manner as the expected actual use.\u00a0 If you plan to use a room temperature two component epoxy but choose to heat cure that epoxy for testing \u2013 you\u2019ve got apples and oranges.<\/li>\n<li>Thickness of substrates \u2013 The thickness of the substrate can affect the bond integrity especially if different coefficients of thermal expansion and contraction are at play.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Technical data sheets have a plethora of information on adhesive strength, temperature tolerance, and chemical exposure, but testing is always recommended to ensure adhesive performance is appropriate for each individual application because each factor is affected by the others.<\/p>\n<h3>The stress, environment, temperature, and time or speed between transitions all affect bond strength.<\/h3>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4506\" src=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp\" alt=\"Destructive testing\" width=\"322\" height=\"353\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The key to destructive testing appropriately is to understand the types and combinations of stresses the joint will experience in actual use.<\/p>\n<p>Following are some typical tests.<\/p>\n<h4>Shear<\/h4>\n<p>Shear strength is the measure of how difficult something is to cut (think pruning shears). It is one of the most common means of destructive testing. Simply bond two lap shears and pull. The reason shear strength is used to represent the strength of two bonded lap shears is that the load is parallel to the surface the load acts on. The shear stress causes one lap shear to displace with respect to the opposite lap shear.<\/p>\n<p>There are ISO standards for the speed at which the laps are pulled and the temperature the test is performed under.\u00a0 Changing the speed, temperature, and environmental parameters to match the expected real world operation of the item being bonded will provide more valuable information.\u00a0 Slow pulling, for example, at an inch per minute, is clearly a very different scenario than a fast jerk.<\/p>\n<h4>Tensile<\/h4>\n<p>Tensile Strength is a straight pull, it is often used to test the strength of the adhesive itself (not bond strength).\u00a0\u00a0 It will cause the specimen to elongate and eventually break.\u00a0 Care is taken to form adhesive into test bars, then the test bars are pulled until they break.\u00a0 In addition to revealing it\u2019s ultimate tensile strength, this test provides other information about the adhesive.\u00a0 For most adhesives, during the first portion of the tensile test the load and the elongation (change in length) the substrate undergoes is linear \u2013 if stress is removed during this elastic phase the material will return to its original state.\u00a0 The information from this line can provide the Modulus of Elasticity.<\/p>\n<p>Stress\/Strain= Modulus of Elasticity or Young\u2019s Modulus<\/p>\n<p>The point at which the line is no longer linear is the Yield Strength, where the substrate begins to deform.\u00a0 At this point and any point after it, the material will no longer return to its original state (original length) once the stress is removed.\u00a0 The specimen has begun to deform and, with additional strain, will ultimately break.<\/p>\n<h4>Impact<\/h4>\n<p>Impact testing determines an object&#8217;s ability to resist high-speed loading.\u00a0 Simply put &#8211; hitting the object at high speed. This is helpful in determining stress absorption or failure.<\/p>\n<h4>Peel<\/h4>\n<p>For most adhesive bonding purposes, peel tests vary in the angle of the peel.\u00a0 Roller methods or moving table methods are generally used for laminating applications.<\/p>\n<h4>Temperature<\/h4>\n<p>Evaluating how temperature affects bond strength is necessary.\u00a0 Although service temperature ratings are provided for most adhesives, the service temperature may not directly correlate to bond strength at elevated temperature.\u00a0 First, it is important to understand that a classification of an adhesive as a high temperature resistant adhesive is based on the adhesive class.\u00a0 For example, a standard cyanoacrylate adhesive resists up to 82 \u00b0C, so a cyanoacrylate that resists 160 \u00b0C is considered high temperature resistant, but standard single-component epoxy adhesives routinely resist 180 \u00b0C and are not categorized as high temperature resistant, even though this is higher than the 160 \u00b0C of a high temperature resistant cyanoacrylate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/resource-center\/temperature-resistant-adhesives\/\">Service temperature<\/a> is provided only as a guide, and testing which takes into account the bond area, speed of temperature change, the type and amount of stress on this joint, the coefficients of thermal expansion between the substrates, and the gap of the adhesive should be performed to ensure success.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly chemical exposure (including water, humidity, etc\u2026) will affect the bond differently at different concentration, length of exposure, dry time between exposure, and the joint design. Specifically how much of the bond is exposed to the chemical.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The types of stressors on a bond (temperature, environmental, strain, rate) all interact and collaborate to make the entirety of the abuse on the bond.\u00a0 Independently each has an effect, but to grok the combined effect takes some creativity.<\/p>\n<p>Climb a ladder and drop it ten times.\u00a0 Then bake it and drop it hot another ten times.\u00a0 Thirdly, take it out in zero-degree weather and drop it ten times.\u00a0 Finally, boil it and take it out into zero-degree weather and throw it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Climb, Drop.<\/li>\n<li>Bake, Climb, Drop.<\/li>\n<li>Burr, Climb, Drop.<\/li>\n<li>Boil, Burr, Climb, Throw.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/resource-center\/adhesives-melt-high-temperature\/\">Thermoset vs Thermoplastic Adhesives<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>Permabond adhesives are thermoplastic \u2013 they won\u2019t reflow or melt at high temperatures. They do soften at high temperatures and can harden at low temperatures.\u00a0 This physical change can affect the adhesive\u2019s ability to expand and contract and thus affect the stress absorbing properties of the adhesive during impact.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to the difference between dropping and throwing, the effects of water vary with time, temperature, and pressure.<\/p>\n<h4>Water<\/h4>\n<p>Typical water absorption tests are either soaking for 24 hours at room temperature or boiling for two hours.\u00a0 The samples are weighed before and after testing to determine the percent absorption.\u00a0 Left to dry, the adhesive will desorb the water and return to its original form.\u00a0 In and of itself, this slight increase in size\/weight of the adhesive is minimal; however, the effects on adhesion may be greater.\u00a0 As the adhesive swells the softening, especially under significant load, can do two things 1. Adversely affect bond strength or 2. Provide more stress absorption.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to soaking and boiling water, humidity testing, salt water spray testing, and steam\/pressure testing are all common.<\/p>\n<h4>Irradiation<\/h4>\n<p>Like other forms of radiation, sunlight can affect the color and function of various plastics.\u00a0 Adhesives are often tested for long term exposure to light.\u00a0 Some adhesives, like MS Polymers, remain virtually unaffected by light; others, including certain epoxies, can harden and yellow.<\/p>\n<h4>Fire<\/h4>\n<p>Flame tests are common in the transportation industry. There are a variety of tests; criteria for fire resistant and fire retardant tests can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/resource-center\/fire-resistant-adhesives-4-crucial-properties\/\">here. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>So yes, in addition to dropping, throwing, baking, boiling, freezing, irradiating, pulling, pushing, smacking, and squashing &#8211; we do light things on fire intentionally.<\/p>\n<p>Provided you didn\u2019t burn it, looking at <u>how<\/u> the bond fails is important.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Substrate failure = the substrate or specimen failed, but the bonded joint remained intact<\/li>\n<li>Adhesive failure = the adhesive comes off one or both substrates<\/li>\n<li>Cohesive failure = the adhesive remains on the substrates but is split down the middle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you are interested in assistance in designing the best means of destructive testing for your application, contact Permabond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Destructive Testing Did you ever have one of those Monday mornings where you just wanted to throw something at the wall?\u00a0 Rip things apart?\u00a0 Smash things on concrete?\u00a0 Light something on fire?\u00a0 Irradiate something? At Permabond, we don\u2019t wait for Monday morning \u2013 we break things every day! Destructive testing is not only essential to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[804,612],"tags":[434,42,477],"class_list":["post-2595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adhesive-selection-and-use-fr","category-tips","tag-adhesion","tag-adhesives","tag-destructive-testing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds - Permabond<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Choosing appropriate destructive testing is important to useful results.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Choosing appropriate destructive testing is important to useful results.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Permabond\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permabondEA\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-01T21:01:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T19:14:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"322\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"353\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca Wilmot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PermabondEA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PermabondEA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca Wilmot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7\u00a0Minuten\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds - Permabond","description":"Choosing appropriate destructive testing is important to useful results.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds","og_description":"Choosing appropriate destructive testing is important to useful results.","og_url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/","og_site_name":"Permabond","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permabondEA\/","article_published_time":"2016-12-01T21:01:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-08T19:14:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":322,"height":353,"url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Rebecca Wilmot","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PermabondEA","twitter_site":"@PermabondEA","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"Rebecca Wilmot","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"7\u00a0Minuten"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/"},"author":{"name":"Rebecca Wilmot","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#\/schema\/person\/50160fb740bd6b7f5edc7dd75a47c16a"},"headline":"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds","datePublished":"2016-12-01T21:01:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-08T19:14:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/"},"wordCount":1326,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp","keywords":["Adhesion","Adhesives","Destructive testing"],"articleSection":["Adhesive Selection and Use","Tips"],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/","url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/","name":"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds - Permabond","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp","datePublished":"2016-12-01T21:01:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-08T19:14:38+00:00","description":"Choosing appropriate destructive testing is important to useful results.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Destructive-testing-1.webp","width":322,"height":353,"caption":"Destructive testing"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/destructive-testing-adhesive-bonds\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Destructive Testing of Adhesive Bonds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/","name":"Permabond","description":"Permabond","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Permabond Engineering Adhesives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#organization","name":"Permabond Engineering Adhesives","alternateName":"Permabond","url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/permabond-logo-BLUE-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/permabond-logo-BLUE-1.png","width":1371,"height":243,"caption":"Permabond Engineering Adhesives"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permabondEA\/","https:\/\/x.com\/PermabondEA","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/permabond-engineering-adhesives"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/#\/schema\/person\/50160fb740bd6b7f5edc7dd75a47c16a","name":"Rebecca Wilmot","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab17090a1038d05735e67711d0912e57d11e98a4636fbc65f83015f133b19f17?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab17090a1038d05735e67711d0912e57d11e98a4636fbc65f83015f133b19f17?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab17090a1038d05735e67711d0912e57d11e98a4636fbc65f83015f133b19f17?s=96&r=g","caption":"Rebecca Wilmot"},"description":"Rebecca has been working at Permabond since the Dead Sea was still sick, having spent time in the laboratory testing and developing products and then being heavily involved in the sales, marketing, technical support and product management side of of the business. When not sniffing glue, she can normally found making or growing stuff.","jobTitle":"Business, Marketing & Product Manager"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44252,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595\/revisions\/44252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}