New Federal safety legislation requires school bus body manufacturers to increase the strength of all joints between sheet steel body panels and between panels and support beams. This paper describes two new epoxy structural adhesives, and a new assembly process called “rivet bonding”, which is now used for about 98% of all school buses produced for sale in the U.S. Advantages include noise reduction plus substantial savings in labor and other costs when compared to the riveting or other mechanical fastening methods which would be required to provide equivalent joint strengths.
