Molecular Dynamics Study on Bond Strength of Epoxy Adhesive for Aluminum Alloys Treated with Silane Coupling Agents

Abstract

This study investigated the interfacial strength properties of surface-modified aluminum alloys by silane coupling treatment and epoxy resin adhesion through the comprehensive study with an experiment of Laser Shock-wave Adhesion Test（LaSAT）and molecular dynamics（MD）simulation. Two different silane coupling agents（N-2-（aminoethyl）-3-aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane and N-2-（aminoethyl）-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane）were employed for surface modification of adherend aluminum alloy, since the silane coupling having different numbers of alkoxy groups induces surface reaction with aluminum alloy and silane layer formation. Subsequently, epoxy resin was adhered to the adherend surface, and the adhesion strength was evaluated. Uni-axial tensile loading was applied to the MD model, so that the relationship between the number of alkoxy groups and the adhesion strength was investigated.