An indentation method for adhesive strength evaluation of polymer coatings

An indentation method was developed for adhesive strength evaluation of a polymer coating using the example of an epoxy composition with titanium alkoxide deposited on the surface of low-carbon steel. The method is based on the numerical implementation of the fracture mechanics approach in experimental data processing. It was found that the penetration of a Rockwell indenter perpendicular to the coating surface causes annular delamination buckling of the coating around the indentation, which is due to adhesive bond breaking as a result of radial shear when the coating material is forced out from under the indenter. A controlled parameter in finite element modeling was the experimentally determined width of the coating delamination zone at a fixed indentation depth at which delamination occurred. The adhesive contact conditions were set using the bilinear law of the cohesive zone model, which describes the relationship between the adhesive shear stress and adhesive bond stretching during shear of interacting surfaces in the contact plane. The limiting specific surface energy of adhesive failure was used as a quantitative evaluation criterion for adhesive strength. The optimal value of the limiting specific surface energy of adhesive coating failure was determined for the cohesive zone model parameters that provide the best convergence of the numerical and experimental data.