1. A method of promoting adhesion on a composite surface, the method comprising:
providing a composite structure having at least one composite surface to be bonded;
preparing the at least one composite surface;
providing a chemical derivatization compound containing active functional groups that promote adhesion;
depositing the chemical derivatization compound on the prepared composite surface to form a functional group-adhesive promoter derivatized layer;
applying an adhesive layer to the derivatized layer; and,
heat curing the adhesive layer to result in a bond with another structure made of a composite, a metal, or a combination thereof.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite structure is made of a polymeric composite material selected from the group comprising bismaleimides (BMI), epoxies, and polyimides.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite structure comprises bismaleimide (BMI), and the chemical derivatization compound activates carbon-carbon double bond functional groups on the composite surface of the bismaleimide.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite surface is prepared with one or more surface preparation treatments selected from the group comprising solvent wiping, abrading, grit blasting, sanding, sandblasting, chemical cleaning, and chemical etching.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical derivatization compound is selected from the group consisting of fluorinated compounds, tetrafluoroaceticanhydride (TFAA), pentafluorophenol, allyl pentafluorobenzene, tridecafluorononyl maleimide, and glycidyloctafluoropentyl ether.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical derivatization compound is deposited via chemical vapor deposition or vacuum deposition.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the prepared composite surface is exposed to a vapor phase chemical derivatization compound containing selected functional groups, wherein selection of the functional groups is based on a resin formulation of the composite structure.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the resulting bond is selected from the group comprising a structural bond and a repair bond.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite structure and the other structure made of the composite, the metal, or the combination thereof, are aircraft structures.
10. A method for structural bonding of structures comprising:
providing a first structure made of a composite material and a second structure made of a composite material, a metal, or a combination thereof;
preparing a surface to be bonded on each of the first and second structures to form a first prepared surface and a second prepared surface;
providing a chemical derivatization compound containing active functional groups that promote adhesion;
depositing the chemical derivatization compound on each of the first and second prepared surfaces to form a first functional group-adhesive promoter derivatized layer and a second functional group-adhesive promoter derivatized layer;
applying an adhesive layer to at least one of the derivatized layers of the first and second functional group-adhesive promoter derivatized layers;
joining the first and second structures together with the adhesive layer and the first and second functional group-adhesive promoter derivitized layers therebetween; and,
heat curing the adhesive layer to the joined first and second structures to form a structural bond between the first and second structures.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the composite material is selected from the group comprising bismaleimides (BMI), epoxies, and polyimides.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the surface to be bonded is prepared with one or more surface preparation treatments selected from the group comprising solvent wiping, abrading, grit blasting, sanding, sandblasting, chemical cleaning, and chemical etching.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the chemical derivatization compound is selected from the group consisting of fluorinated compounds, tetrafluoroaceticanhydride (TFAA), pentafluorophenol, allyl pentafluorobenzene, tridecafluorononyl maleimide, and glycidyloctafluoropentyl ether.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein the chemical derivatization compound is deposited via chemical vapor deposition or vacuum deposition.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second structures are aircraft structures.
16. A method for structural bonding of polymeric composite structures of an aircraft, the method comprising:
providing a first polymeric composite aircraft structure and a second polymeric composite aircraft structure;
preparing a surface to be bonded on each of the first and second polymeric composite aircraft structures to form a first prepared surface and a second prepared surface;
providing a chemical derivatization compound containing active functional groups that promote adhesion;
depositing the chemical derivatization compound on each of the first and second prepared surfaces to form a first functional group-adhesive promoter derivitized layer and a second functional group-adhesive promoter derivitized layer;
applying an adhesive layer to at least one of the first and second functional group-adhesive promoter derivitized layers;
joining the first and second polymeric composite aircraft structures together with the adhesive layer and the first and second functional group-adhesive promoter derivitized layers therebetween; and,
heat curing the adhesive to the joined first and second polymeric composite aircraft structures to form a structural bond between the first and second polymeric composite aircraft structures.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first and second polymeric composite structures are made of a material selected from the group comprising bismaleimides (BMI), epoxies, and polyimides.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the surface to be bonded is prepared with one or more surface preparation treatments selected from the group comprising solvent wiping, abrading, grit blasting, sanding, sandblasting, chemical cleaning, and chemical etching.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the chemical derivatization compound is selected from the group consisting of fluorinated compounds, tetrafluoroaceticanhydride (TFAA), pentafluorophenol, allyl pentafluorobenzene, tridecafluorononyl maleimide, and glycidyloctafluoropentyl ether.
20. A bonded structure formed by the method of claim 10.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. Wiper arm (10), which includes a fastening part (14) and an articulated part (16) with a wiper rod (18), of which at least one part (14, 16, 18) is fabricated of sheet metal by stamping and bending, and features at least one area with a plurality of sheet metal layers (26, 28), characterized in that an external sheet metal plate (26) and an internal sheet metal plate (28) lying on top of one another are jointly bent around a bending edge (52), whereby the external sheet metal plate (26) features connecting toes (32) on its side edges (54) that run longitudinally to the bending edge (52), which engage in matching recesses (30) on the corresponding side edges (56) of the internal sheet metal plate (28), and, after bending under an initial tension, the internal sheet metal plate (28) is adjacent to the external sheet metal plate (26).
2. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sheet metal plates (26, 28) are composed of different materials.
3. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are formed from a sheet metal strip (36) and placed on top of one another via folding by 180\xb0, whereby the fold (42) runs transverse to the bending edge (52).
4. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal sheet metal plate (28) is a partial reinforcing sheet metal plate (44).
5. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that a first sheet metal part (46) is connected to a second sheet metal part (48) by overlapping the two sheet metal parts (46, 48) in a connection area (50) and one of the sheet metal parts (46, 48) is fashioned as the external sheet metal plate (26) and one as the internal sheet metal plate (28).
6. Wiper arm (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the second sheet metal part (48) fashioned as the internal part (26) features a step (58) towards the connection area (50), whose height corresponds to the sheet metal thickness of the first sheet metal part (46).
7. Process to manufacture a wiper arm according to claim 1, characterized in that the contours of the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are stamped out of sheet metal in a first procedural step, that the connecting toes (32) are bent in a second procedural step, that the external sheet metal plate (26) is placed on the internal sheet metal plate (28) in a third procedural step so that the connecting toes (32) are aligned with the recesses (30), and that the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are jointly bent around a bending edge (52) in a fourth procedural step.
8. Process according to claim 7, characterized in that the external sheet metal plate (26) and the internal sheet metal plate (28) are stamped out of a sheet metal strip (36) arranged one after the other in the direction of the bending edge (52) and folded together in such a way that they are lying on top of one another and the connecting toes (32) are aligned with the recesses (30).