Investigation of the physico-chemical nature and structure of adhesive and polymer nano-composite joints during their degradation process

粘合剂和复合材料广泛应用于各个行业；然而，由于以下原因，它们的应用目前受到限制：1)缺乏粘合接头长期稳定性的数据，2)允许在接合过程中评估微缺陷的方法，以及3)允许我们预测粘合接头寿命的方法。据了解，联合服役中的故障大多是由环境退化引起的。本项目是对环境退化过程中粘合剂和纳米复合材料接头性能和结构变化的理论和实验研究。将研究化学物质、湿度和温度变化以及应力和振动的影响，并确定对接头耐久性最关键的参数。我们打算揭示材料的形态，物理和化学变化，导致其强度性能下降。由于该地区是最容易受到环境攻击的地区，因此将特别注意对接头界面的调查。我们计划使用各种方法和技术，如声学显微镜，光学和电子显微镜，红外光谱，差示扫描量热法，显微硬度和机械测试。所得结果将有助于我们更深入地了解环境因素对粘接耐久性的影响。将实验数据与理论计算相结合将有助于开发预测粘合剂预期寿命的方法。声学方法用于胶粘剂微观结构的可视化和显示声学图像与接头力学参数的相关性，在工业无损评价胶粘剂接头质量方面是一种非常有价值的工具。

Adhesives and composite materials are widely used in various industries; however, their applications are currently limited due to 1) the lack of data on the adhesive joint's long-term stability, 2) methods allowing evaluating microdefects during joint service and 3) methodology that allows us to predict the lifetime of the adhesive joint. It is known that most of the failures during joint service are caused by environmental degradation.The proposed project is a theoretical and experimental study of changes that occur in the properties and structure of adhesive and nano-composite joints during environmental degradation. Influence of chemicals, humidity and temperature alterations as well as stress and vibration will be studied and parameters most critical for joint durability will be identified. We intend to reveal morphological, physical and chemical changes in the material, which lead to a decrease of its strength performance. Special attention will be devoted to the investigation of the joint's interface because this region is the most susceptible to the environmental attack. We plan to use various methods and techniques such as acoustic microscopy, light and electron microscopy, infrared spectrometry, differential scanning calorimetry, microhardness and mechanical tests.The results obtained will help us to understand more deeply the influence of environmental factors on the durability of the adhesive joint. A combination of experimental data with theoretical calculations will help to develop methodology for predicting the adhesive's life expectancy. Acoustic methods developed for visualizing the adhesive microstructure and showing the correlation of acoustic images with mechanical parameters of the joint can be an extremely valuable tool in industrial non-destructive evaluation of adhesive joint quality.