adhesive to fasten steel to steel, does it really work as a screw would? which adhesive?

Question

steel beams to light weight steel beams..for reinforcement

Answer 1

The problem with an adhesive is that it only attaches a surface to a surface. The underlying strength of the thickness of the material is not available to an adhesive. For attachments in which strength is not a huge consideration, a well chosen adhesive might be a good alternative. But, if shear strength and tensile strength are important, the go for screws. Nobody glues bridges.

Answer 2

it depends... what kind of screws are you going to use? how many and where will you put them? There are certainly adhesives that will fasten steel to steel but you need to determine what forces the assembly will be subject to, figure what the load will be and what the area of the joint will be, then you can calculate the stress (load per unit area) on the joint. With that, you can look for the strength of different adhesives. You need to consider some other practical factors such as will the structure be subject to heat/cold/vibration/shock/humidity? All these things will effect how well the adhesive will work. Another important consideration is the consequences of failure. If someone will get hurt if it fails, that is much different situation and requires much more thorough evaluation of the design requirements. Good luck

Answer 3

I would perform tests with two adhesives: cyanoacralyte (CA) adhesive, also known as "super glue"; apply a thin coat to the contact area and place. The glue hardens on contact with water molecules, so you can set the joint by breathing on it. The other is epoxy, which takes 24 hours to harden (even "5 minute" epoxy does) but which can set amazingly strong and will bond to metal, plastic, wood, rubber, you name it. Epoxy consists of resin and hardener which are mixed in small, equal amounts and mixed just before using. Use a dispenser gun or only open one tube at a time — replacing the wrong cap means two solid tubes of epoxy ready for the trash.