Wetting and Adhesion

Within the past several years there has been a rapidly increasing cognizance of some of the structural advantages of using adhesives in place of conventional fastenings. Adhesive technology is advancing rapidly and, more recently, there have been many publications devoted to the development of the science of adhesion. Several new books have been published on the subject and review articles and papers describing original work can be found in the current literature. The net result of this activity is a status in which many workers are beginning to agree on some basic tenets while a few maintain views not widely accepted. Several very fundamental aspects of adhesion problems remain highly controversial. Many of these differing concepts arise in the area of physical behavior and thermodynamic considerations associated with contact angles and in the wetting behavior of adhesives on solid substrates. This is somewhat paradoxical in light of the recent advances ...