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The development of a durable adhesive bonding technology for joining of aluminium automotive structures requires a full understanding of the importance of the environment on the chemistry of the adhesively bonded system. This paper describes the accelerated testing procedures used by Alcan to provide information on the significance of environmental factors on adherend surface, the bonding interface and adhesive and so establish the best combination of adhesive and surface pretreatment for good long term durability. The stress/humidity test provides information on adhesive and interface performance, while the neutral salt spray test illustrates durability and corrosion resistance of the pretreatment. Outdoor exposure testing provides the means of comparing the accelerated tests with real life durability.

A proven design and manufacturing system for building automotive structural frames and unibody structures in adhesively bonded sheet aluminum is described. The system, which was developed to be compatible with established procedures and facilities for building spot-welded steel vehicles, allows the weight of such vehicle body structures to be reduced by almost half, yet provides structures of similar rigidity, excellent resistance to fatigue and corrosion attack and has been proven through evaluation tests carried out on replicas of production cars built using the technology. While developed for manufacturing automobile structures from adhesively bonded stamped sheet, adaptation of this technology to the construction of adhesively bonded perimeter and tubular structural frames is also described.

In order to prove that the aluminum structured vehicle technology (ASVT), that was jointly developed by Alcan International and Gaydon Technology, could be used to produce satisfactory automobiles, a fleet of replica vehicles was built using the technology and was subjected to a comprehensive series of test track and road evaluation programs. This paper describes the novel way in which six Austin Rover Metro replicas were built using the ASV technology. It then goes on to describe the tests that were performed on the vehicles and the results obtained. The tests included static torsion, 1000 mile pave (Belgian block), pothole braking, accelerated corrosion and 30 mph barrier impact.