Page 6 - Handbook of Adhesives and Sealants

xx Preface

ogy that to everyone else has a somewhat sinister demeanor and mag-
ical aura about it. Then, we are truly overwhelmed when it becomes
obvious that to fully understand and gain expert stature with adhe-
sives and sealants, we must master many fundamental principles.
These fundamentals are derived from diverse and alien sciences such
as polymeric materials, surface chemistry, and fracture mechanics. To
be successful, we know that one must master and integrate these sci-
ences.
The above situation is, of course, magnified a bit, but I am sure that
it reaches home to many who pick up this Handbook and desire an
efficient method of understanding adhesives and sealants and apply-
ing them reliably. As a periodic end-user, you possibly do not have the
time or the resources to thoroughly study the various technologies
related to adhesives and sealants. You have little desire to wade
through volumes of text and product information looking for the spe-
cific methods, processes, and possible examples that will apply to the
joining application du jour. However, you do want such information
close-by if the need arises. Above all, you hope to learn from the ex-
periences of others. Ideally for your needs, a single reference source
can provide the guidance and fundamental knowledge required for
many adhesive bonding or sealing applications. I hope that I am cor-
rect in these assumptions, because this is why I have written this
Handbook.
There are a number of important handbooks, journals, and papers,
on adhesives and sealants already in the literature. Many of these are
important works, and they serve as a foundation for this Handbook.
To the authors of these remarkable vehicles, I am exceedingly grateful.
Much of their work is referred to here. This Handbook may not go into
the technical depth that is evident in these previous works. However,
it will provide sufficient detail and a broad foundation to enable the
practitioner to reliably design, select, and use adhesives or sealants.
This Handbook will be a single, comprehensive source of recent in-
formation, historical experience, and guidance for any adhesive or
sealant application. The Handbook will define the universe of adhe-
sives and sealants from the perspective of the end-user, and in that
way will provide a practical and useful source of information.
My perspective is as an end-user as well. I have consulted on ad-
hesives and sealants for over 33 years in diverse commercial industrial
applications, first in Westinghouse Electric Corporation and then in
Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and other companies. Thus, I have seen
many successful applications of adhesive or sealant systems and many
disasters and near disasters. As an industrial consultant, one gener-
ally becomes involved with a case because there is a problem that
cannot be solved with the resources at hand. Thus, horror stories as