A study was made to determine the probable causes of deterioration of each of several adhesives in bonds to stainless steel at temperatures from 400 to 550 degrees F. Prellminary studies of aluminum surfaces on which ions of metals used in staLnless steel were introduced showed that iron was probably catalyzing a thermal deterioration of the adhesive. The resistance of FPL-878 adhesive to thermal deterioration at 550 degrees F on steel was improved signiffcantly by treating the steel surface to be bonded with either zinc or cerium naphthenate and firing at 1,200 degrees F. The addition of manganese dioxide to the adhesive also increased its resistance to thermal deterioration. A study of the thermal-aging properties of five different chemical types of adhesives on stainless steel and alumina revealed that a phenol-nitrile rubber adhesive was superior to a phenol-epoxy adhesive on steel, but this order was reversed on alumina. These and other observations indicated probable specific relationships among the chemical structure of the adhesive, the metal adherend, and the resultant thermal stability of bonds after aging at high temperatures.

Adhesives containing combinations of polyamide resin with melamine compounds, epoxy resins with vinyl anhydride copolymers, and inorganic fillers were studied as heat-resistant bonding agents for stainless steel. Attempts to improve the strength of the polyamide-melamine type adhesive at 550° F. were unsuccessful. Studies were made of the heat-resistant properties of eight different epoxy resins modified with an ethyl acrylate-maleic anhydride copolymer and with maleic anhydride. The most promising of these were adhesive formulations of epoxy resins which were glycidyl ethers of either bisphenol A or tetra hydroxy phenyl ethane and contained aluminum powder and arsenic pentoxide fillers impregnated into asbestos cloth. (Author).