Abstract: This project deals with the possibility to use adhesive bonding for stainless steels as an alternative joining technique to the traditional ones, such as spot welding, whose use is sometimes difficult or not desired. The adhesive behaviour of stainless steels has been evaluated on a laboratory scale and on real components with reference to different types of surface finish, chemical and mechanical pretreatments, types of loads and classes of adhesive, with special attention to hot-melt adhesives, which are a very interesting class from an industrial point of view. Wide attention has been paid to anodisation treatments that can enhance the durability of adhesive junctions of stainless steels. Various treatments have been investigated by means of a careful surface characterisation and a specifically developed adhesion test under humid conditions. Results indicate that the best anodisation treatments has been proposed as the best one, tests showing that it enhances durability in very severe environments. Some full-scale components, including adhesive junctions, have been constructed and evaluated experimentally in terms of mechanical behaviour, durability, fatigue and impact resistance. Moreover, some tests have been performed to verify whether finite element codes can be helpful in designing adhesive junctions. Results of the work indicate that : stainless steels have good adhesive behaviour, and durability can be enhanced by means of some surface treatments that have been selected or developed; and full-scale adhesive-bonded junctions can offer even higher performance than spot-welded ones, being an advantageous alternative in some applications
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