Adhesive Bonding in Cryogenic Conditions

The increasing rates of global warming and decreasing levels of natural resources have contributed to significant levels of environmental change, with Aerospace and transportation sectors accounting for 17% of global man-made CO2 emissions. To face the climate challenge, the Aerospace community is actively pursuing alternative greener energy sources such as green hydrogen. Significant technical challenges exist in storing liquid hydrogen in airframe structures where any structural discontinuities in storage tanks can create significant issues. In this scenario, structural adhesive bonding could be an effective solution. This paper will highlight testing of adhesives in bonding to both metallic and composite substrates. This will include mechanical performance of bonded joints at cryogenic temperatures, fatigue analysis and some insights into potential modelling techniques to provide a basis for adhesive selection criteria.