I know that PLA does not bond at all, just peel right off But i'm wondering about PETG or ABS
Will they bond just as well as wood?
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1$\begingroup$ While at a company, I worked with an adhesives vendor; Lord was one of them. They had charts of different epoxy formulations and the materials to be joined. It was a matrix of materials horizontally across the top and repeated vertically down one side. At their intersection was the recommended choice of epoxy. Often in industry, they use corona discharge to increase the surface energy of materials to increase wetting and roughen for 3D attachment of adhesives. Flame does the same thing. $\endgroup$– Jim ClarkCommented Jun 30, 2021 at 3:38
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1$\begingroup$ Epoxy tends to work best with more porous materials. I would recommend trying Eastman910 (aka Crazy Glue aka cyanoacrylate) or even a solvent-based glue designed for those materials. $\endgroup$– Carl WitthoftCommented Jun 30, 2021 at 13:33
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I have had good luck with plastic specific consumer grade epoxies. Both JB Weld Plastic Bonder and Loctite Plastics have worked well. I have not performed any structural tests with them, but in my experience they are ~25% stronger than just standard 5 minute epoxy for plastic. Perhaps they addressed some of the surface chemistry Jim Clark mentioned.
Cyanoacrylate like Carl Witthoft mentioned may also work well. In my experience it only works where the surfaces are very rough and where the bond area will not flex. Note that Cyanoacrylate reacts with water (moisture in the air) to cure. This can make it difficult to use on large plastic to plastic bonds because plastic and cured Cyanoacrylate restrict the movement of water to the uncured portion of the joint.
ABS can be bonded to itself with Acetone and other solvent based glues. Common drain pipe is ABS and ABS pipe cement will work. It looks like PETG can be dissolved with toluene and MEK, so you have similar options there. Lots of experimentation to get these adhesives to stick to other materials though.
ABS and PETG are both thermoplastics and can be melted together with heat or ultrasonic welding.
Anytime you are relying on an adhesive for attachment, a roughened surface helps improve the bond. And even better if you can change the geometry of your design to put the adhesive joint in shear instead of tension or peeling stresses.
answered Jun 30, 2021 at 15:46
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$\begingroup$ Thanks! great answer My main use case is using it as a core material for carbon parts carbon fabric with epoxy layed on a sheet of plastic any input on that? $\endgroup$– SimonCommented Jun 30, 2021 at 15:49
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$\begingroup$ There are lots of variables. Can you provide more information on the geometry, surface area, stresses, or application? $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 17:07