Bond strength of end-grain joints and its dependence on surface roughness and adhesive spread

The effect of different machining processes on surface roughness and on adhesive tensile strength of end-grain-bonded spruce wood specimens was studied. Surfaces that had been cut with two different circular saws containing 48 and 96 teeth were compared with those that had been further processed by smoothing with a microtome, machine planing, or sanding. Two different adhesives and two different spreading quantities were used to join the test specimens by their end-grain surfaces. Increasing tensile strength of the bonded specimens was observed with increased surface roughness, which was ascribed to an enlarged bonding area in the case of circular-sawn samples with a rough surface. On the other hand, more pronounced starving of the bond line and thus decreased bond strength was observed in the more open cells of the smoothed end-grain surfaces. A positive effect regarding tensile strength was further observed with increased spreading quantity of the adhesives. Machining was found to particularly affect earlywood tracheids, whereas surface roughness of latewood tracheids was comparable for the differently treated end-grain surfaces