By the end of 2023, the global aerospace adhesives and sealants market is expected to surpass USD 1 billion, highlighting the significant investment the aerospace industry is making in advanced adhesive solutions. This emphasis on innovation is shaping the future of adhesives in the aerospace industry. The fast-paced development of new adhesives and surfacing technology improves the efficiency in the assembly of aircraft components, boosting production rates.

From the interior to the exterior and engine compartment of aircraft, adhesives play a critical role in various applications such as overhead lockers, seat trays, in-floor lighting, and even in the engine itself.

This article provides a brief overview of the aerospace industry and underscores the importance of adhesives in aerospace manufacturing in driving its progress.

A] Epoxy Adhesives in the Aerospace Industry

Epoxy adhesives are a type of structural adhesive, widely utilised in the aerospace industry due to their exceptional bonding strength and versatility. They provide excellent adhesion to various substrates, including metals, composites, and plastics.

Structural epoxy adhesives are speciality adhesives custom formulated for aerospace applications, providing high-strength bonding for critical structural components. They exhibit excellent load-bearing capacity, are highly durable, and offer resistance to harsh environmental conditions. They are commonly used in bonding metal, composite, and hybrid structures, ensuring the integrity and reliability of aerospace assemblies.

In addition, epoxy adhesives also offer very high chemical resistance, thermal stability and resistance to shocks, vibrations and high G-forces. Due to their unique adaptability, epoxies are frequently used for joining aircraft components, repairing composite structures, and sealing aircraft interiors. Furthermore, they are also used for potting electronic components, motors, impregnating composite fibres and coating surfaces with flame-retardant epoxy paints.

B] Benefits Of Using Adhesives In The Aerospace Industry

In the aerospace industry, the use of adhesives brings forth a multitude of benefits that contribute to improved performance, enhanced safety and greater efficiency. From weight reduction to increased durability, let’s explore the remarkable benefits of adhesives in aerospace manufacturing, design, safety and maintenance:

1. Weight reduction

Aerospace adhesive solutions eliminate the need for bulk traditional fastening methods and contribute to lighter aircraft structures. This, in turn, improves fuel efficiency, extends range, and increases payload capacity. This reduction in weight allows the aerospace industry to manufacture aircraft designs aiming for maximum efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

2. Improved aerodynamics

Adhesives play a big role in achieving streamlined aerodynamics in aircraft. Using adhesives can create a smooth, uninterrupted surface, reducing the drag caused by protruding fasteners or joints. This reduction in drag improves fuel efficiency, lowers operating costs, and allows aircraft to achieve higher speeds and improved performance.

3. Increased structural integrity

Adhesives offer excellent bonding capabilities that form strong and durable bonds between aerospace components, distributing stress evenly across the joint interface. This ensures improved structural integrity and reduces the risk of premature failure of components. The strong load-bearing adhesion improves load transfer capability, which ensures the structural integrity of essential components, such as wings, fuselage and empennage.

4. Enhanced durability

Aerospace adhesives create a protective barrier against a variety of environmental factors, including temperature fluctuations, humidity, chemicals, and UV radiation. The barrier prolongs the lifespan of the components, reducing the need for frequent repairs or replacements.

5. Improved fatigue resistance

When you use adhesives to bond aerospace components, they help in distributing stress more evenly along the joint line, reducing stress concentrations that can lead to fatigue failure. These fatigue-resistant properties improve the longevity and reliability of aerospace structures, ensuring they can withstand the cyclic loading experienced during flight operations. Adhesives are primarily used in critical areas such as wing-to-fuselage connections or landing gear attachments, enhancing overall safety and reducing the risk of structural failures.

6. Reduced vibration and noise

Adhesives are known for their excellent vibration-damping properties and then to absorb and dissipate the vibrations generated during flight. By reducing the vibration and resulting noise, adhesives contribute to a quieter and more comfortable in-flight experience for passengers and crew.

7. Simplified assembly

Adhesives greatly help simplify the assembly of aerospace components. Unlike traditional fasteners that require drilling, threading, and torquing, adhesives offer a simplified and streamlined assembly process. Using adhesives instead of traditional fasteners can significantly eliminate the stress concentration and reduces the potential for electrochemical corrosion. They also simplify the joining of dissimilar materials such as composites and metals and facilitate the assembly of complex-shaped components, giving designers the freedom to create innovative aircraft structures.

8. Safety

One of the most important benefits to note is the use of adhesives to create safe aerospace structures and aircraft. The excellent adhesion and load-bearing capabilities ensure the integrity of critical components, reducing the risk of structural failures during flight. As we have seen, adhesives’ resistance to fatigue, impact, and vibration ensures the structural integrity of the aircraft under dynamic loads and harsh operating conditions.

C] Applications Of High-Performance Aerospace Adhesive Solutions

Listed below are some of the popular aerospace adhesive applications that play a vital role in the assembly, bonding, and protection of critical components.

1. Aircraft assembly and maintenance

The aerospace industry requires high-performance adhesives for the assembly of aircraft structures, including joining composite panels, bonding metal components and attaching interior fittings. They help in creating lightweight yet robust frames, ensuring the structural integrity of the aircraft is maintained.

Adhesives are also used for aircraft maintenance, ensuring quick and seamless repair and bonding of new components. They can also be used for structural reinforcement, adding strength to critical areas of the aircraft that may experience higher stress or load. They are also a cost-effective solution for maintenance in the aircraft industry.

2. Interior and exterior finishing of aircraft

Aerospace adhesives are widely used in the interior and exterior finishing of aircraft. In the interior, adhesives are used to attach decorative panels and bonding upholstery materials to various interior components such as seats, headliners, and sidewalls. They are also used to install insulation materials providing thermal and acoustic insulation, ensuring passenger comfort.

In exterior finishing, aerospace adhesives are utilised for securing exterior fairings to streamline the aircraft design and improve its aerodynamic performance. Adhesives help form a robust bond between fairings and aircraft structure, maintaining their position even under significant wind forces and vibrations.

These strong and reliable adhesive bonds contribute to the longevity and durability of the interior and exterior finishes.

3. Engine and propulsion system components

High-performance aerospace adhesives are used to bond engine and propulsion system components such as turbine blades, fuel cells, heat shields, and exhaust systems since these components operate under extreme conditions of high temperatures, pressures, and vibrations. The adhesives used in the aerospace industry are custom engineered to withstand these harsh environments. This helps achieve improved engine performance, fuel efficiency, and overall reliability.

4. Satellite and space vehicle construction

Aerospace adhesives are employed in the construction of satellites and space vehicles for bonding solar panels, thermal protection systems, structural components, and electronic assemblies. Industrial adhesives are often custom-formulated and have to adhere to quality standards such as NASA’s Low Outgassing (ASTM E-595) standard that determines the usefulness of an adhesive in space and high vacuum applications. This standard ensures that an adhesive can withstand extreme temperature fluctuations and offer resistance to radiation and other harsh space environment conditions.

In addition, they also contribute to the creation of lightweight aerospace structures such as satellite and space vehicles, increasing their longevity and enabling successful missions and reliable satellite operations.

If you are looking for top-of-the-line aerospace-grade adhesives that offer excellent adhesion, contact our technical experts at Kohesi Bond – a prominent aerospace adhesive manufacturer in India.

Conclusion

High-performance aerospace adhesive solutions are a necessity in the aviation and aerospace industries. These adhesives offer a multitude of benefits, including weight reduction, improved aerodynamics, increased structural integrity, enhanced durability, improved fatigue resistance, reduced vibration and noise, simplified assembly, increased design flexibility, and enhanced safety. These benefits result in efficient manufacturing processes, improved performance, fuel efficiency, and reliability of aerospace components and systems.

In addition, they also offer numerous applications in aircraft assembly, interior and exterior finishing, engine and propulsion systems.

With their exceptional thermal, electrical, and chemical resistant properties, high-performance aerospace adhesives have become an ideal bonding solution for the aerospace industry.

If you are interested in high-performance aerospace adhesives, get in touch with our team of experts for a custom-made product for your aerospace application.