ADHESIVE MATERIAL AND METHOD OF USING SAME

1 . A method of attaching members, comprising:

providing a first member and a second member, both the first member and the second member being components of a wing or fuselage of an airplane; and

contacting an adhesive material with a surface of the first member and a surface of the second member such that the adhesive material whets and adheres to the first member and the second member, wherein:

i. the adhesive material includes epoxy/elastomer adduct; and

ii. the adhesive material includes a curing agent.

2 . A method as in claim 1 wherein the first and second members are independently selected from the following: a frame, a stringer, a skin and a spar.

3 . A method as in claim 1 wherein the adhesive material is substantially devoid of thermoplastic polymers.

4 . A method as in claim 2 wherein the adhesive material includes greater than about 30% by weight of the epoxy resin.

5 . A method as in claim 2 wherein the adhesive material includes greater than about 40% by weight of the epoxy/elastomer adduct.

6 . A method as in claim 1 wherein the adhesive material includes a blowing agent.

7 . A method as in claim 1 wherein contacting the adhesive material with the surface of the first member and the surface of the second member includes activating the adhesive material to foam and thermoset and wherein the adhesive material whets and adheres to the first member and second member during foaming and thermosetting.

8 . A method as in claim 1 , wherein the epoxy/elastomer adduct includes an epoxy-carboxyl terminated butyl nitrile rubber adduct.

9 . A method as in claim 1 , further comprising about 0.1% to about 4.0% by weight nanoclay.

10 . A method as in claim 1 , wherein the adhesive material exhibits a lap shear strength greater than about 2000 psi.

11 . A method as in any of claims 1 wherein the adhesive material includes:

i. a fiber reinforcement material, the fiber reinforcement material being a pulped aramid fiber; and

ii. filler material including nanoclay, calcined clay or both;

wherein the adhesive adhesive material is substantially devoid of polymers acetate and acrylate polymers.

12 . A method as in any of claims 1 wherein a substantial portion of the epoxy/elastomer adduct is liquid and a substantial portion of the adduct is solid.

13 . A method of attaching members, comprising:

providing a first member and a second member, both the first member and the second member being components of a wing or fuselage of an airplane; and

contacting an adhesive material with a surface of the first member and a surface of the second member such that the adhesive material whets and adheres to the first member and the second member, wherein:

i. the adhesive material includes epoxy/elastomer adduct and at least a portion of the epoxy/elastomer adduct is a solid epoxy/solid elastomer adduct;

ii. the adhesive material includes a blowing agent and a curing agent;

iii. the adhesive material includes greater than about 30% by weight epoxy resin;

iv. the adhesive material include a fiber reinforcement material and nanoclay.

14 . A method as in claim 13 wherein the first and second members are independently selected from the following: a frame, a stringer, a skin and a spar.

15 . A method as in claim 13 wherein the adhesive material is substantially devoid of thermoplastic polymers and the adhesive material includes greater than about 40% by weight of the epoxy/elastomer adduct.

16 . A method as in claim 13 wherein contacting the adhesive material with the surface of the first member and the surface of the second member includes activating the adhesive material to foam and thermoset and wherein the adhesive material whets and adheres to the first member and second member during foaming and thermosetting and wherein the adhesive material is activated through exposure to elevated temperature.

17 . A method as in claim 13 wherein the epoxy/elastomer adduct includes an epoxy-carboxyl terminated butyl nitrile rubber adduct and the adhesive material exhibits a lap shear greater than about 2000 psi.

18 . A method of attaching members, comprising:

providing a first member and a second member, both the first member and the second member being components of a wing or fuselage of an airplane and wherein the first and second members are independently selected from the following: a frame, a stringer, a skin and a spar; and

contacting an adhesive material with a surface of the first member and a surface of the second member such that the adhesive material whets and adheres to the first member and the second member, wherein:

i. the adhesive material includes greater than about 40% by weight epoxy/elastomer adduct;

ii. the epoxy/elastomer adduct includes an epoxy-carboxyl terminated butyl nitrile rubber adduct;

iii. the epoxy/elastomer adduct includes both a liquid adduct and a solid adduct;

iv. the adhesive material includes a blowing agent and a curing agent;

v. the adhesive material includes greater than about 30% by weight epoxy resin and a portion of the epoxy resin has a functionality greater than 3;

v. the adhesive material includes fiber reinforcement material and the fiber reinforcement material includes aramid pulp;

vi. the adhesive material includes nanoclay;

vii. the adhesive material is substantially devoid of thermoplastic polymers;

wherein contacting the adhesive material with the surface of the first member and the surface of the second member includes activating the adhesive material to foam and thermoset and wherein the adhesive material whets and adheres to the first member and second member during foaming and thermosetting and wherein the adhesive material is activated through exposure to elevated temperature

19 . A method as in claim 18 wherein the epoxy/elastomer adduct includes about 1:3 to 3:1 parts of epoxy to elastomer.

20 . A method as in claim 18 further comprising about 0.1% to about 4.0% by weight nanoclay wherein the adhesive material exhibits a lap shear greater than about 2000 psi.