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Conference report
International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives 21 (2001) 503–504
Conference report Swiss Bonding 2001, 15–17 May 2001 This is the fifteenth International Symposium on adhesive bonding to be held at Rapperswil on Lake Zurich in Switzerland. It was publicised as being a Jubilee Event. The venue seems to get more attractive every year, particularly as the reconstruction of the lake-side area has now reached completion. Overall there were just about 300 members present, coming from 17 countries. As is inevitable, a majority were from Germany (169) and a very considerable number from Switzerland itself (52) but there were representatives from a number of other countries, including Australia, Japan, Spain, Turkey and USA. The delegation from the Peoples Republic of China was again significant; the result of the culmination of the plans for the first China Swiss Bonding in Beijing in October. Proceedings opened on Tuesday 1st May with addresses of welcome from the Mayor of the ancient town of Rapperswil and the Director of Engineering at the Hochschule, on whose premises the whole event took place. The President, Academician Eduardo Schindel-Bidinelli, delivered his laudation, which included expressions of gratitude and appreciation of all those who have supported Swiss Bonding and particularly Sika AG. He also read a message from Professor Claus Bischof who was unable to attend this year for family reasons. The remainder of the first day was devoted to nine papers on topics concerning Fundamentals, Pretreatment and the Chemistry of Adhesives. The first of these, given by Katsuhiko Nakamae from Kobe University, Japan, was slightly different in that, it considered some aspects of bio–adhesion; particularly poly-acrylic acid base hydrogels. The remaining three before lunch all dealt with various pretreatments of adherends and their effect on the eventual bond strengths, including an excellent review by Dr. R. H. Dahm from ISST Loughborough University. The first paper of the afternoon described some of the applications of adhesives in the construction of vehicles by St. Koch of Sika AG. The following two papers concerned concentrated colloidal suspensions and the use of liquid poly-urethane adhesives. Then came the session, when 20 selected posters were displayed. Each author had 2 min to
PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 7 4 9 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 3 3 - 1
outline his topic before they were subjected to more detailed, informal examination and exposition. The day concluded with hot-dogs to the accompaniment of music; first from traditional Alpenhorns and then from a ‘‘Glen Miller’’ band. The second day managed to consider 14 papers in four sessions over a span of 912 h! These were under the general headings of Chemistry of Adhesives and Applications. It began with a description of a method of surface pretreatment of polymer surfaces to provide improvements in lithography by Dr. M. Bauer. This was followed by two papers on repair techniques for aircraft and ships, one from Australia by Dr. A. Baker and the other by H.J.M. Woeden from Delft. These were followed by papers on elastic bonded joints and on UV curing. Unquestionably, the paper which attracted the most attention and enthusiastic response in the whole Conference, was one on dentistry by Dr. J-F. Roulet from Berlin. He described the enormous changes which had taken place in both the thinking and the practice of restorative dentistry over recent decades with the development of truly adhesive methods, beginning with the enamel etching techniques in the 1950s. Dr. Wellman reported on the use of adhesives in the manufacture of transparent medical devices (e.g. syringes, catheters) Dr. Packham of the University of Bath described the use of compatibilising copolymers to enhance the adhesion between incompatible polymers. The afternoon contained papers describing uses of adhesives in a variety of specific instances; greenhouses, buses, truck cabs, and automobiles. The evening was devoted to a boat trip around Lake Zurich with an excellent meal and a little light music from the members of The Scientific Committee. The third and final day had the headings: Applications, Testing and Design in Construction. It began with two papers on uses of adhesives in the automobile industry. These were followed by a significant paper by Professor M.E.R. Shanahan on bonding to oily steel (still a use in automobile construction). Then followed a series of considerations of various techniques for the quality control of adhesives and bonded structures. A particularly interesting paper was from the Delft University of Technology discussing an engineering approach to the problems of (apparent) interfacial failure in non-aerospace structures, where the economic
504
Conference report / International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives 21 (2001) 503–504
Photo 1. At Rapperswil this year; Keith Allen with three of his former (sucessful) Ph.D. students: (left to right) Professor M.E.R. Shanahan (1974), Dr.D.E. Packham (1970), and Professor S.J. Shaw (1984)
considerations are more significant. The final paper was given by Professor S.J. Shaw of DERA, UK, on the use of sealants in aircraft fuel tanks. Of course the level of the papers varied but overall, the standard was satisfactory, with some which I thought were excellent. The geographical distribution of papers was rather better this year than it has sometimes been; with Germany providing only 55% and Switzerland, Holland and the United Kingdom each contributing 11%. The Conference retains its position as one of the significant International forums in the adhesion calen-
der, offering an outstanding opportunity for interaction between the adhesion scientists of the German speaking countries and the others.
K.W. Allena,b Joining Technology Research Centre, Oxford Brookes University, OX 3 0BP UK b Ranworth, Tydehams, Newbury, Berks RG14 6JT UK a
Conference report Swiss Bonding 2001, 15–17 May 2001 This is the fifteenth International Symposium on adhesive bonding to be held at Rapperswil on Lake Zurich in Switzerland. It was publicised as being a Jubilee Event. The venue seems to get more attractive every year, particularly as the reconstruction of the lake-side area has now reached completion. Overall there were just about 300 members present, coming from 17 countries. As is inevitable, a majority were from Germany (169) and a very considerable number from Switzerland itself (52) but there were representatives from a number of other countries, including Australia, Japan, Spain, Turkey and USA. The delegation from the Peoples Republic of China was again significant; the result of the culmination of the plans for the first China Swiss Bonding in Beijing in October. Proceedings opened on Tuesday 1st May with addresses of welcome from the Mayor of the ancient town of Rapperswil and the Director of Engineering at the Hochschule, on whose premises the whole event took place. The President, Academician Eduardo Schindel-Bidinelli, delivered his laudation, which included expressions of gratitude and appreciation of all those who have supported Swiss Bonding and particularly Sika AG. He also read a message from Professor Claus Bischof who was unable to attend this year for family reasons. The remainder of the first day was devoted to nine papers on topics concerning Fundamentals, Pretreatment and the Chemistry of Adhesives. The first of these, given by Katsuhiko Nakamae from Kobe University, Japan, was slightly different in that, it considered some aspects of bio–adhesion; particularly poly-acrylic acid base hydrogels. The remaining three before lunch all dealt with various pretreatments of adherends and their effect on the eventual bond strengths, including an excellent review by Dr. R. H. Dahm from ISST Loughborough University. The first paper of the afternoon described some of the applications of adhesives in the construction of vehicles by St. Koch of Sika AG. The following two papers concerned concentrated colloidal suspensions and the use of liquid poly-urethane adhesives. Then came the session, when 20 selected posters were displayed. Each author had 2 min to
PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 7 4 9 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 3 3 - 1
outline his topic before they were subjected to more detailed, informal examination and exposition. The day concluded with hot-dogs to the accompaniment of music; first from traditional Alpenhorns and then from a ‘‘Glen Miller’’ band. The second day managed to consider 14 papers in four sessions over a span of 912 h! These were under the general headings of Chemistry of Adhesives and Applications. It began with a description of a method of surface pretreatment of polymer surfaces to provide improvements in lithography by Dr. M. Bauer. This was followed by two papers on repair techniques for aircraft and ships, one from Australia by Dr. A. Baker and the other by H.J.M. Woeden from Delft. These were followed by papers on elastic bonded joints and on UV curing. Unquestionably, the paper which attracted the most attention and enthusiastic response in the whole Conference, was one on dentistry by Dr. J-F. Roulet from Berlin. He described the enormous changes which had taken place in both the thinking and the practice of restorative dentistry over recent decades with the development of truly adhesive methods, beginning with the enamel etching techniques in the 1950s. Dr. Wellman reported on the use of adhesives in the manufacture of transparent medical devices (e.g. syringes, catheters) Dr. Packham of the University of Bath described the use of compatibilising copolymers to enhance the adhesion between incompatible polymers. The afternoon contained papers describing uses of adhesives in a variety of specific instances; greenhouses, buses, truck cabs, and automobiles. The evening was devoted to a boat trip around Lake Zurich with an excellent meal and a little light music from the members of The Scientific Committee. The third and final day had the headings: Applications, Testing and Design in Construction. It began with two papers on uses of adhesives in the automobile industry. These were followed by a significant paper by Professor M.E.R. Shanahan on bonding to oily steel (still a use in automobile construction). Then followed a series of considerations of various techniques for the quality control of adhesives and bonded structures. A particularly interesting paper was from the Delft University of Technology discussing an engineering approach to the problems of (apparent) interfacial failure in non-aerospace structures, where the economic
504
Conference report / International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives 21 (2001) 503–504
Photo 1. At Rapperswil this year; Keith Allen with three of his former (sucessful) Ph.D. students: (left to right) Professor M.E.R. Shanahan (1974), Dr.D.E. Packham (1970), and Professor S.J. Shaw (1984)
considerations are more significant. The final paper was given by Professor S.J. Shaw of DERA, UK, on the use of sealants in aircraft fuel tanks. Of course the level of the papers varied but overall, the standard was satisfactory, with some which I thought were excellent. The geographical distribution of papers was rather better this year than it has sometimes been; with Germany providing only 55% and Switzerland, Holland and the United Kingdom each contributing 11%. The Conference retains its position as one of the significant International forums in the adhesion calen-
der, offering an outstanding opportunity for interaction between the adhesion scientists of the German speaking countries and the others.
K.W. Allena,b Joining Technology Research Centre, Oxford Brookes University, OX 3 0BP UK b Ranworth, Tydehams, Newbury, Berks RG14 6JT UK a