The structural efficiency of a composite structure is established by its joints and assembly. Adhesive bonding, mechanical fastening, and fusion bonding are three types of joining methods for polymer-matrix composites. This article provides information on surface treatment and the applications of adhesive bonding. It discusses the types of adhesives, namely, epoxy adhesives, epoxy-phenolic adhesives, condensation-reaction PI adhesives, addition-reaction PI adhesives, bismaleimide adhesives, and structural adhesives. The article provides information on fastener selection considerations, including corrosion compatibility, fastener materials and strength, head configurations, importance of clamp-up, interference fit fasteners, lightning strike protection, blind fastening, and sensitivity to hole quality. Types of fusion bonding are presented, namely, thermal welding, friction welding, electromagnetic welding, and polymer-coated material welding.

This article focuses on the factors to be considered for selecting fasteners for joining carbon fiber composites. These considerations include corrosion compatibility, fastener materials, strength, stiffness, head configurations, importance of clamp-up, hole fit, and lightning protection.

This article compares and contrasts mechanical joining techniques used in the manufacture of aluminum assemblies, including seaming, swaging, flanging, crimping, clinching, dimpling, interference and snap fits, and interlocking joints. It provides basic illustrations of the various methods and summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each. The article also discusses the use of staples, nails, rivets, and threaded fasteners and provides relevant property and performance data.

This article briefly describes the nomenclature, alignment and geometrical considerations, and functional and application requirements of a die set. The die set consists of the shank, guide posts, guide bushings, the punch, and die holders. The article illustrates plate flatness and parallelism in the die set. The testing for abrasion, seizure, and endurance in the die set are discussed briefly. The article concludes with information on die-set recommendations.

The aluminum-tin alloys 850.0, 851.0, 852.0, and 853.0 are specialized compositions displaying excellent bearing characteristics under moderate loads and with effective lubrication. This datasheet provides information on key alloy metallurgy, fabrication characteristics, processing effects on physical and mechanical properties, and application characteristics of these alloys. Permanent-mold aluminum casting rotating-beam fatigue curves for 850.0-T101, 850.0-T5, and 852.0-T5 alloys are also presented.

Metal-induced embrittlement is a phenomenon in which the ductility or fracture stress of a solid metal is reduced by surface contact with another metal in either liquid or solid form. This article summarizes the characteristics of solid metal induced embrittlement (SMIE) and liquid metal induced embrittlement (LMIE). It describes the unique features that assist in arriving at a clear conclusion whether SMIE or LMIE is the most probable cause of the problem. The article briefly reviews some commercial alloy systems where LMIE or SMIE has been documented. It also provides some examples of cracking due to these phenomena, either in manufacturing or in service.

Metal-induced embrittlement is a phenomenon in which the ductility or the fracture stress of a solid metal is reduced by surface contact with another metal in either the liquid or solid form. This article summarizes some of the characteristics of liquid-metal- and solid-metal-induced embrittlement. This phenomenon shares many of these characteristics with other modes of environmentally induced cracking, such as hydrogen embrittlement and stress-corrosion cracking. The discussion covers the occurrence, failure analysis, and service failures of the embrittlement. The article also briefly reviews some commercial alloy systems in which liquid-metal-induced embrittlement or solid-metal-induced embrittlement has been documented and describes some examples of cracking due to these phenomena, either in manufacturing or in service.

Measuring the thickness of thin films can be accomplished in many ways. This article focuses on the optical method of single-wavelength ellipsometry, two multiple-wavelength methods of reflectometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry for measuring the thickness of thin films. The general capabilities, principles and applications of ellipsometry and reflectometry are discussed in terms of nondestructive methods.

This article discusses the effect of thread design, preload, tightening, and mean stress on the fatigue strength of bolt steel. It describes the factors influencing fatigue failures in cold-driven and hot-driven riveted joints. The factors affecting the fatigue resistance of bolted friction joints are also discussed. The article reviews stress concentrations in pin joints and discusses stress-intensity factors for mechanically fastened joints.

Warm compaction uses both powder heating and die heating to effect higher component densities, whereas warm die compaction uses only die heating to achieve higher density. This article explains the influences of green and sintered properties and pore-free density during compaction of materials. It provides information on the concept of pore-free density and process considerations: die heating and powder heating. The article concludes with a review of the tooling design for warm compaction.

This article discusses corrosion resistance of titanium and titanium alloys to different types of corrosion, including galvanic corrosion, crevice corrosion, stress-corrosion cracking (SCC), erosion-corrosion, cavitation, hot salt corrosion, accelerated crack propagation, and solid and liquid metal embrittlement. A short section discusses the addition of alloys that can improve the corrosion resistance of titanium.