The Automated Bonding Evaluation System (ABES) is a desktop instrument which enables the kinetics of adhesion to be evaluated: how fast adhesive bonds develop their strength under a wide range of precisely and dynamically controlled thermal, chemical and stress conditions. It is used to understand how adhesion plays into the creation of diverse composite materials and bonded products — to tailor adhesive cure characteristics to specific applications.
The ABES instrument provides such information for those that develop and manufacture adhesives and also those that use them in diverse industrial and biomedical applications. This includes the consolidation of composite materials and engineering components in construction, aerospace, automotive, marine, MEMS, bio-medical, and craft/DIY sectors. ABES shows precisely how strength development at interfacial bonding sites is effected by temperature, chemical condition, substrate properties and diverse process variables.
Bond formation and subsequent testing is affected in a highly coordinated fashion. The use of precise methods of adhesive application, very rapid attainment of stable bond forming conditions followed by rapid transition to testing modes enables snapshots of bond strength to be attained as bonds progress from no strength to strength maxima and beyond.