Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Surface Treatment for Structural Adhesive Bonding in Automotive Body Manufacturing: A Parametric Study

This study investigates the optimization of structural adhesives used in automotive body manufacturing processes via Thermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (TAPP) and Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) surface treatments. Surface preparation of sheet metal parts using plasma before the adhesive joining process represents an innovative approach not yet utilized in automotive body production, and this work seeks to fill a gap in the existing literature. Test samples were prepared to compare the effects of curing temperature and time, as well as of TAPP versus CAP surface preparation, on bond strength. Using a Taguchi experimental design, we systematically varied five parameters: adhesive curing time, curing temperature, plasma type (TAPP or CAP), plasma-sample distance, and number of plasma passes. Tensile tests on the resulting specimens quantified bond strength, and regression analysis of those results identified the optimal processing conditions. The findings offer valuable insights into how TAPP and CAP treatments affect the adhesive joining of automotive sheet metals and establish the optimum parameters for each method.