Investigation of the efficiency of atmospheric pressure plasma application in metal material adhesive bonds

Atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) method has started to come to the fore in many areas today, as it can be applied to material surfaces quickly and stably and has many advantages compared to plasma applications performed under vacuum. With APP, it is possible to improve the surface energies, adhesion behavior and surface mechanical properties of materials. In this context, there is a need to reveal the process parameters by making more detailed studies in the bonding process of metal materials. In the first part of the study, the effects of APP application on the adhesion strengths of galvanized steels (H300LAD) and non galvanized steels (H300LA) were investigated. Two different materials (H300LAD and H300LA), two different adhesives (Marocol 18576 and Erde G-Force) and three different plasma application velocities (5 mm/s, 10 mm/s and 15 mm/s) were determined as experimental parameters. The results show that the application of APP provides improvements in the bonding process of the specified materials. In the second part of the study, the aging behavior of APP applied metal surfaces and the storage conditions that can delay the return of the surface to its untreated state were investigated. Two different plasma treatments (cold and hot) and three different plasma treatment numbers (1, 2 and 3 times) were determined as experimental parameters and two different storage conditions such as air and water (1, 10 and 60 minutes) were chosen as the ambient conditions that could delay the return of plasma treated surfaces to their untreated state. In addition, the effects of temperature on aging were investigated for two different temperature values (-20°C and 30°C). The results show that the aging is greatly affected by the storage conditions and temperature in which the samples are stored.