Interfacial Adhesion of Polymer-Metal Composites

The objective of this project was to design and assemble an experimental apparatus to measure the interfacial adhesion between polymer-metal composites using varying surface conditions. The materials used for the polymer-metal composite are 420-grade Stainless Steel (SS) and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). A 90-degree peel tester was designed in SolidWorks® as an add-on to an Instron® 5944 Universal Testing Machine. The peel tester was fabricated using both computer numerical controlled machining and manual milling. Sample plates were polished by using several grits of sandpaper, buffing compounds and a sand belt before applying ABS onto their surface. Eight peel tests were performed on untreated ABS-SS samples where force and adhesion energy values were determined