Structural Glue

What is a structural glue? Many of us have heard about them but do you know what they are?

A structural joint may be regarded as a joint which supports design loads, under often severe service conditions, for the planned service life of the product. Structural materials typically fall with the family of metals and composites. For making a structural joint, we must use a structural adhesive.

Structural glues are special glues which have the ability bond two structural materials to produce a structural joint. Structural glues typically fall within the two component (A & B) epoxy, polyurethane or acrylic families. Structural gluing takes place in a wide range of sectors, in particular, within the bus, truck, rail, wind turbine and aerospace sectors.

For use, structural glues are applied directly from the supply cartridge, using an application gun. A spiral mixer is attached to the cartridge, and as both A & B components travel through the spiral mixer and mix intimately, before being applied to the materials being bonded. Structural glues are very easy to use, and with a quick demonstration from one of our engineers, strong bonds may be assured!

There are literally thousands of structural bonding applications, but to name a few:

• Bonding a rotor hub to a wind turbine.
• Gluing trim panels in caravans & buses.
• Gluing steel in the manufacture of street furniture.
• Bonding seat and trim parts in rail cars.
• Gluing composite crash structures in the automotive sector.
• Gluing composite panorama roof panels to bodywork in the automotive sector.
• Bonding steel panels in door manufacture.

At W.I Polymers, we offer the complete range of structural glues, which will fulfil most structural applications. Combined with these, we offer Ireland’s premium technical service, boasting laboratories staffed with highly experienced mechanical engineers, material engineers and chemists. We have the facilities to carry out in-house structural load testing, on any combination of materials. A full technical report accompanies all test work.

For all structural gluing applications, we are at your service.