With its focus on the methodology used for producing and characterizing adhesive specimens, this practical guide covers the whole spectrum of test methods used, providing vital information for dealing with the range of adhesive viscosities and properties that are of interest to both researchers and users. Alongside the entire breadth of industrial laboratory examples, the book also highlights various areas of application in the construction, paper and packaging industry, small-scale industry and trade, electronics industry, optics industry, mechanical and plant engineering, textile industry, shoe industry, road construction, surface design, medicine and transportation.

Dr. Lucas F.M. da Silva is Head of the Materials and Technological Groupat Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. His research focuses on adhesive bonding. He received his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto in 1996 and his Master of Science from the same institution in 1999. He received a PhD related to adhesive bonding in 2004 from the University of Bristol (UK) under the supervision of Prof. R.D. Adams. He has published 6 books, approximately 50 ISI journal papers and more than 50 papers in proceedings of conferences. He is member of the editorial board for the International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives and Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, and reviewer of 12 international journals.
Prof. David A. Dillard is the Adhesive and Sealant Science Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, having received his BS and MS degrees from the University of Missouri-Rolla, and his PhD from Virginia Tech. With industrial experience at McDonnell Douglas prior to entering graduate school, he has also worked during summers and sabbaticals at General Motors, NASA (Langley and Ames), National Taiwan University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With over 30 years of experience in adhesive bonding he regularly teaches academic courses in viscoelasticity, adhesion science, and sustainability, and has co-authored over 135 refereed journal articles and several book chapters. He served for five years as Director of the Center for Adhesive and Sealant Science and served as Founding Director of Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute, both at Virginia Tech. He recently completed a term as President of the Adhesion Society, in which he is a Robert L. Patrick Fellow, and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Adhesion.
Prof. Bamber Blackman holds a lectureship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London where he is also Deputy Director of Research. His research interests include the fracture mechanics of structural adhesive joints and polymeric fibre-reinforced composite materials, including effects of mode-mix, test rate, service environment and structure-property relationships. he has chaired the Structrual Adhesives Division of the Adhesion Society and is a member of the society's executive committee. He is secretary to the European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS) Technical Committee TC4 on Polymers, Adhesives and Composites where he also leads the structural adhesives activities. He is deputy chairman of the Structural Technology and Materials Group (STMG) of the IMechE and also represents this group on the 'Aerospace Materials and Structures Technical Advisory Committee' of the IMechE. He was awarded the Rolls-Royce prize in December 2001 and has published over 20 refereed research papers and book contributions and has presented his research at more than 35 international conferences. he has twice served as Guest Editor to the International journal, Engineering Fracture Mechanics.
Prof. Robert D. Adams is an Emeritus Professor of Applied Mechanics at the University of Bristol and a Visiting Professor of the University of Oxford. He started his academic career some 35 years ago and his work covers a wide range of topics. He is one of the most respected researchers in the field of mechanics of adhesively bonded joints. He has pioneered the use of finite element analysis from the early 1970s. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, which has currently an impact factor of 1.678. He has organized (as Chair, member of Organising Committee, or member of Scientific Committee) approximately 50 conferences. He has written or edited several books on adhesives, the latest being 'Adhesive Bonding, Science, Technology and Applications', published at Woodhead in 2005. According to ISI Web of Science, he has 134 journal papers, being the total number of independant citations of 1611, and his h-index of 24.