Interfacial Contact and Bonding in Autohesion IV—Experimental Verification of Theory

Abstract

A two-stage theory of autohesion, consisting of contact establishment as the first and bond formation as the second stage has been proposed previously. The shape of surfaces and their viscoelastic deformation are the controlling factors.An experimental verification of the theory is obtained by performing bonding and tensile breaking tests on known cylindrical and “flat” surfaces. The test pieces are compression-molded polystyrene. Bonding is done at known temperatures, under known contact loads, and for known lengths of time. The experimental results agree well with those predicted by the theory.