Although the use of adhesives in the packaging, transportation, housing, and manufacturing markets seems to have unlimited potential, there is a problem that limits the full replacement of other fastening techniques with this bonding modality. The occurrence of unpredicted failures has plagued adhesive users for many years. One example is the use of thermally processed adhesives in the packaging industry, especially in the packaging of food and medical products.
Engineering studies guide packaging developers to form seals with known peel and rupture strength.
However, in the field, unpredicted packaging failures result in the need to over-design the joints of the packaging, making it nearly an impossible task to open. A new high speed cyclic peel test has demonstrated failure modes that occurred at loads well below that predicted by standard single pull peel tests. We feel this new test, which has been demonstrated on both thermal and pressure sensitive adhesives, will give a better understanding of the durability of these adhesive joints in end-use applications. In order to properly address poorly defined failure mechanisms in adhesive joints, it is appropriate to reevaluate the concept of adhesion and include in the review techniques used for testing and mechanisms of failure. In physical chemistry, adhesion is defined as the attraction between a solid surface and a second phase which is usually a liquid.