SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1992
STP14879S

Adhesion of Silicone Sealants to Organic-Coated Aluminium

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The integrity of a structurally glazed building envelope depends on the strength of adhesion at several interfaces, e.g. glass- glass coating, glass coating-silicone sealant, silicon sealant-substrate coating, substrate coating-primer, primer-substrate.

Frequently, the frame and cladding are aluminium alloys which are either anodised or finished with an organic coating to satisfy aesthetic and/or long-term corrosion resistance requirements.

In this paper, the mechanism of adhesion between organic-coated aluminium and silicone sealants is analysed. The sealants investigated are neutral-, alkaline-, and acid-cured, 1-part RTV silicones as well as 2-part RTV silicones, all commercially available. The organic coatings investigated are powder and wet-coated polyester, PVF2 (polyvinylidene flouride), acrylic and siliconised finishes, also all commercially available products.

It is shown that the strength of adhesion between any silicone sealant and the organic-coated substrate, as well as the extent of adhesive failure, depend on the substrate surface properties as quantified by the non-dispersive component of the substrate surface energy, γn-d. A typical relationship is shown to exist for strength v. γn-d and [%] adhesive failure v. γn-d.

Finally it is shown that the organic-coated substrates used in structural glazing can be assessed for their potential bondability with silicone sealants by determining the non-dispersive component of their surface energy. This technique is described in detail in this paper.

Author Information

Gutowski, VWS
CSIRO Division of Building, Construction and Engineering, Highett, Victoria, Australia
Russell, L
CSIRO Division of Building, Construction and Engineering, Highett, Victoria, Australia
Cerra, A
CSIRO Division of Building, Construction and Engineering, Highett, Victoria, Australia
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Details
Developed by Committee: C24
Pages: 144–159
DOI: 10.1520/STP14879S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5220-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1857-7