3. Types of adhesive used

As the most frequently used matrices are epoxy resins, the most compatible and widely used adhesives are also epoxies. They have been used in aeronautics for 50 years.

Tables D and E in the documentation provides the characteristics of the two most widely used adhesive ranges in the world for bonding composites in aeronautics: those of Loctite Aerospace (which has taken over the business of DEXTER (HYSOL brand), and those of Hexcel (which has taken over the Redux film adhesives of Ciba). Redux adhesives were originally based solely on phenolic + polyvinyl formaldehyde. Some of Ciba's paste adhesives are now marketed under Ciba's new name, Vantico.

Aerospace adhesives have been very seriously standardized for the past forty years, and we have listed in our documentation all the standards, mainly American but also European,...