Comparison of adhesive joint strength of laser fabricated dimple textured Al–Mg alloy in different environment

Joining of aluminium alloys using adhesives has got tremendous applications in aviation, marines, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Surface preparation plays a crucial role in the adhesive joining of two surfaces. In this research work, the nanosecond fibre laser was used to create dimple-shaped textures on aluminium–Mg alloy (AA5754). Dimple-shaped textures were created under three different atmospheric conditions. Experiments were performed in open-air conditions, under static water conditions, and under flowing water conditions. Texture depths differed by varying the scanning speed of laser beam. Texture pitch was also varied at two different levels, that is 300  μ m and 400  μ m in both texturing directions. Two different scanning speeds of 2.5 and 5 mm/s of the laser beam were investigated. Surface contact angle of each sample was evaluated using a goniometer to measure surface hydrophobicity/ hydrophillicity. Surface roughness and dimensions of dimples were measured using a digital microscope. Scanning electron microscopes were used to evaluate the morphology of textured surfaces. An epoxy-based adhesive (partite) was uniformly spread over textured zones and samples for standard tensile tests were prepared as per ASTM. Shear lap tensile tests were carried out to evaluate the shear lap strength of each joint on a universal testing machine. Surfaces prepared in static water conditions and flowing water conditions resulted in completely different morphology compared to open-air processing. It was observed that dimple patterns fabricated under flowing water conditions had the highest bonding strength among all the three processing environments.