Ultrasonic detection of kissing bonds at adhesive interfaces

Abstract

Abstract Intimate mechanical contact between the adhesive and adherend counterparts can easily occur without an actual bond. Such apparently flawless, but severely defective 'kissing' bonds are especially dangerous because they often remain hidden from most types of conventional ultrasonic inspection. A special high-frequency, high-inspection angle ultrasonic technique is suggested to improve the detectability of such kissing bonds. It is shown to be essential to interrogate the adhesive-adherend interface from the adherend side without sending the ultrasound through the inherently inhomogeneous and highly attenuating adhesive layer. Keywords: Adhesive bondinterface evaluationultrasound