Report #3: Preparation of adhesive bonds under seawater; refrigerator storage

report prepared by      MMA engineers:
                                        2/C Maguire
                                        3/C McQueen
                                        2/C Pike
                                        3/C Sunde
                        UCCRTS technicians:  O'Brien










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			88= Epoxo88
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The adhesive that I used today was Epoxo88 and it was very easy to
use.  It was in two parts, one part resin and one part hardener.  
All (we) had to do was add one part resin and one part hardener.  
The epoxy was a thick liquid that flowed easily and was easy to 
mix.  My assistant, Shawn O'Brien, and I found it easy to apply 
the epoxy underwater on the metal surfaces with a wooden tongue 
depressor.  When we tried to apply the adhesive to a rock we
had a lot of difficulty.  We used a device like a Q-tip to spread 
the epoxy over the rock.  When we tried to apply the epoxy, it
clumped up and became a gooey mess around the Q-tip.  We were 
unable to stick anything onto the rock for unknown reasons.
An idea that I had to apply the epoxy was to mix the epoxy inside
the capsule of Alvin and somehow be able to inject the epoxy 
through a tube onto the surface that you need to glue.


The epoxy seemed to work on the metal and wood samples.
It bonded to the surfaces when applied underneath the water.
However, when cadet McQueen and I attempted to bond the (plastic) 
tag to the rocks surface, we encountered a problem. The epoxy 
would ball up on contact with the rock surface, thus not allowing 
the tag to adhere. To conclude, I firmly believe that epoxo 88 
is not a good choice as an underwater marine rock (marker/adhesive).
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			Epoxy 3070
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On September 20, I worked with Epoxy 3070.  Initially, I thought it
had failed the rock test, but in hindsight, I realize I may not have
mixed it or applied it correctly.  Due to this human error, I believe 
the epoxy should be tried again.

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			Repairitquik
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Problems / Successes :  The adhesive was very
difficult to apply under water as it tended to lose
it's stretching ability.   The samples (OW, AH, AL,
CS, SS) were able to be attached to each other.
However, when a rock and plastic slide where tried, it
completely failed, even when the rock was scrubbed
with a plastic wire brush (before applying epoxy).  
One rock was (epoxied to a plastic strip) while 
completely wet while the other was scrubbed then
dried, (and then epoxied).  The dried rock was a success.

Ideas for underwater applications:  The adhesive is
extremely difficult to work with even when using bare
hands (to mix and apply). Some type of carrying / 
mixing / dispensing device must be employed if any 
succeess is to be had.

  We used the RIQ adhesive. I found that it applied
about the same in sea water as it did in our control
samples. The problem occurred when RIQ was
used to apply the plastic strip to a rock. The plastic
strip stuck to the RIQ, but the RIQ would not stick to
the rock... 
    I believe that it may have stuck better when not
submerged in water, but this experiment is to find
something to use under water. At this time, I don't
think that RIQ is looking too promising.