Adhesive performance is shown to depend on the full bonded system—substrates, pretreatment, curing, and joint geometry. Early bead‑adhesion and mechanical tests help identify toughness and failure modes before FEM modeling. Adhesives require specialized characterization with controlled thickness and precise setups; methods like TAST, butt‑joint, ENF, and DCB supply key data but introduce sensitivity to tolerances and mixed stress states. The session underscores that characterization tests rarely match real applications, yet remain essential for building reliable CAE models supported by Sika’s combined materials and simulation expertise.
