NUST Institutions Library Catalogue

Adhesives play a crucial role across various industries and applications due to their
ability to bond materials together. They are used in numerous ways, ranging from
everyday household applications to industrial and specialized fields. Strength is the most
critical factor to analyze before using the adhesive. Various techniques have already been
developed and many are being developed to predict and improve the strength of adhesive.
The addition of cork powder to the structural adhesives could improve the strength of
adhesive joints through mechanical interlocking between the cork cells and the molecules
of adhesive. However, even with the nanofiller reinforcement, the strength of adhesive
joints is significantly affected by environmental parameters like temperature and
humidity. The present study investigated the effect of hydrothermal aging on the strength
characteristics of cork powder-reinforced adhesive samples. Reinforced adhesive samples
were investigated under two different humidity levels of 80% and 100% RH. The cork
powder will be added in concentration of 0.25wt.%, 0.5wt.%, 0.75wt.% and 1wt.% to
study the reinforcing effects. The result shows that the saturated mass increased with
increased in relative humidity that is approximately 0.4% and 0.9% for 80% and 100%
RH respectively. The findings show that the ultimate tensile strength is reduced by the
addition of cork powder as well as enhancing humidity. Furthermore, the addition of cork
powder makes the sample more brittle, so failure strain and tensile toughness undergo
decrement. The above finding indicated that hot-wet environment has a negative
influence on strength performance of cork powder reinforced adhesive. In future the same
study can be performed to know the strength of SLJ and DLJ to know its effect on joints.