Controlling the mixing quality of 2K adhesives by means of electrical capacitance tomography – Part I: necessary polymer characteristics

ABSTRACT To ensure the desired mechanical properties of adhesively bonded components, maintaining the prescribed mixing quality, i.e. mixing ratio and evenness, of two-component (2K) adhesives is essential. Although different studies proved that mixing errors may exert a negative impact on the bonding result, there are currently no methods available that would allow for continuous monitoring thereof during inline dosing processes. A way out of associated issues is offered by the Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT), which enables practitioners to map spatial material distributions and mixing ratios by measuring the capacitances of different media, including adhesives. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the ECT’s potential to be used for 2K mixture quality control. Due to the complexity of the matter, the presentation is split into two papers. In this 1st part, all preliminary experimental and analytical work aiming to determine polymer characteristics, above all permittivity, ε, needed to evaluate whether a respective 2K adhesive may be ECT-monitored is presented. For that, a permittivity measurement device (PMD) was developed, which allows for a fast and efficient determination of adhesive permittivities. Subsequently, the PMD was validated with reference dielectrics and then used to determine the permittivities of the components of 16 commercially available 2K adhesives (epoxies and polyurethanes). Finally, the relationship between permittivity and mixing ratio was investigated for a sub-set of four representative ECT-suitable adhesives. It was found that a wide variety of 2K polymers may principally be controlled by ECT and that the relationship between mixing ratio and mixture permittivity can be described by general analytical theories from the literature. As a result, preliminary experimental effort aiming to assess the adhesive suitability for inline ECT-monitoring could be significantly reduced. The latter experiments will be the topic of the 2nd part of the study.