Are you using structural tape or glue in Ireland? If so, what are the benefits of using liquid glues over adhesive tapes? Well, from a performance point of view, liquid adhesives offer many benefits, particularly when strength, gap-filling properties and overall durability is concerned!

Take a recent case. Tec Industrial are a Dublin based supplier of hoses, pipes and fittings. Recently, several dozen compressed air carts were delivered to Tec Industrial , with the request that the pneumatic hoses were connected to two hose reels mounted at the front of the cart. The installation of the hose reels was duly completed. On the front of the cart, were two acrylic doors. Two steel ‘U’ shaped channels were pushed onto each acrylic door, and glued with adhesive tape. The function of the  ‘U’ shaped channels, was to engage with a magnetic door closer, located on the frame of the cart. The workers in Tec Industrial noticed that most of the ‘U’ shaped channels were very loose and liable to fall of while the cart was being used!

Was adhesive tape the best option to use? From a manufacturing point of view, the answer is ‘yes’! Adhesive tape is easy to cut to size and it’s application requires little in the way of expertise.

However, given the joint geometry, was adhesive tape the right product to use? To this we must answer a resounding ‘no’! While the materials used to assembly the joint were compatible with the requirements for creating joints, the geometry of the joint was not suitable for adhesive tape.

If we look at the geometry of the joint, we will see that in order to enable the ‘U’ shaped channel to slide over the acrylic door, onto which a piece of adhesive tape was attached, the ‘U’ shaped channel must be wider than the acrylic door. Furthermore, due to the attachment of the adhesive tape to the acrylic door, the manufacturer had to increase the width of the channel, optimising the gap between the adhesive tape and the steel, thus allowing for an easier fit. And therein lies the problem, adhesive tapes need very intimate contact between the bonding surfaces and will not fill gaps in excess of their thickness.

Given the geometry of the joint, the correct way to bond these materials would have been with the use of two component structural adhesives. Structural adhesives are unique in that they are all gap filling products and continue to meet the strength and durability requirements as well as cater for the stresses which, in this case, are primarily in tensile and shear modes.

We dispatched one of technicians to the customers premesis and using Scigrip SG300-05, we bonded the channel onto the acrylic door with ease. For use, we applied the Scigrip SG300-05 into the channel and placed it upon the acrylic. The excess adhesive was cleared up with a cloth immediately after application

There you have it! From a materials point of view, a simple application. However, the joint geometry did not allow for the use of adhesive tapes. What was required was a liquid adhesive. An adhesive which would be capable of filling the gap between the ‘U’ shaped channel and the acrylic door. Structural adhesives offer this, and more. The ease of use and the extreme environmental performance are the hallmarks of Scigrip structural adhesives.

Our engineers and chemists are experts in adhesive problems. Augmenting this expertise is knowledge and experience. We are always at your service, to help you use adhesives in the most effective, yet most economical way possible. Let us show you how.