Adhesives and Sealants

Structural Adhesives have gained ground on todays way of bonding within the industrial sectors. Besides bonding traditional materials a good structural adhesive is often the only solution for bonding modern materials such as composites. Structural bonding increases the longevity and reliability and thus enhances the sustainable developement of products. With respect to traditional fasteners a good structural adhesive provides the following benefits:

• Heat sensitive materials kan be bonded
• Different types of materials can be bonded
• Thin materials can be bonded, which results in a remarkable reduction in weight and costs
• Structure remains intact (no drill holes, punch holes, rivets) which in turn means that the strength of the material remains intact
• Reduced tension and vibrations
• Whilst bonding 2 different metals there is no galvanic corrosion. The adhesive acts as an insulative layer between the 2 materials
• Designers gain a greater design freedom, choice of materials and production techniques. This results in an esthetic product enhancement
  
  

Afta can help you with your choice of adhesive, to better suit your specific (product) requirements.

Not every adhesive is recommended for every type of material. A rule of thumb tells us that a good adhesion is possible on materials with high surface energy eg. steel, glass, ceramics, etc. Critical –but not impossible- is an adhesion on materials with low surface energy such as PE, PP,PTFE and silicon based materials. Besides researching the materials to be bonded the other important choice we will be making will be the consideration of "strength of the bond" versus "open time". The correct choice will be made together after testing the adhesives. This to ensure that your products are produced with nothing less than the best.