Industrial Adhesives & Sealants
What Are Industrial Adhesives?
Industrial adhesives are specially formulated bonding agents designed for heavy-duty applications in various industries. They offer high strength, durability, and resistance to environmental factors like heat, moisture, chemicals, and impact. Industrial adhesives are widely used in manufacturing, construction, automotive, aerospace, electronics, and other sectors to join materials like metal, plastic, wood, rubber, and glass.
Types of Engineering adhesives
Based on Chemistry
- Water based
- Hot melts
- solvent based
- PUR – Polyurethane reactive
- Anaerobics
- Cyanoacrylates
- Epoxies
- Methacrylayes
- Acrylic sealants
- Silicone sealants
- MS polymers
- Polyurethanes
Based on Industry
- Automotive OEMs and ancillaries
- After automotive market
- Industrial Manufacturing : Railways, HVAC , Electrical Equipments ( Eg- BHEL), Pumps & motors, Medical devices, Material handling equipments …….etc
- MRO: Maintenance Repair & Overhaul- process plants, Eg: Power plant, Sugar plant, Waste water treatment, Steel mills etc
- Wood working, Furniture, Eg: Godrej
- Footwear & leather products; Eg: Nike
- Packaging and paper converting
- Graphic arts or book binding
- Textiles
Industrial Applications
- Automotive Industry: Bonding parts, sealing windshields, and assembling components to improve vehicle durability and performance.
- Construction: Fixing panels, tiles, and structural components, as well as sealing joints and gaps.
- Electronics: Assembly of circuit boards, screen bonding, and potting components for electrical insulation.
- Aerospace: Lightweight, high-strength bonding for aircraft parts, structural components, and interior fittings.
- Furniture Manufacturing: Bonding wood, leather, and upholstery materials for furniture construction.
- Packaging: Creating strong, reliable bonds in labels, cartons, and containers.
How to Choose the optimal product
MSECP
- Machine: bonding application equipment
- Substrates: details of two substrates to be bonded
- Environment: Environment in which the bonded parts would be present: Eg: temperature, pressure, dipped in engine oil etc
- Cost : adhesive+ application cost: ascertain of it is viable, eg: to bond two papers we cant use a high tech PUR technology.
- Plant Conditions: factory environment where the adhesive will be used.
First check if it is compatible with the materials you need to put together ( substrates). You will also have to consider the surrounding conditions such as the ambient temperature (minimum and maximum), the moisture content, UV exposure, exposure to chemicals such as detergents or acids and dust that could affect the bonding quality.
You will also need to verify if the adhesive you choose is compatible with the stress it will be put under (permanent load, vibration, shock, shear, bending, etc.) and in particular its resistance to peeling (tensile strength).
The working time, i.e. the time during which it is possible to modify the position of the elements you are gluing together, and the final setting time, i.e. the time you will have to wait before the assembly can be used under normal conditions. As a general rule, two-component adhesives have a shorter working time and shorter final setting time than single-component system. Cyanoacrylates, which has a setting time of a few seconds, is the exception that confirms the rule.
Industrial applications of bonding and sealing
Chief Challenges faced
Observations:
- high production volumes, high speed production, automatic production lines.
- lesser or negligible manual intervention
- ensure accuracy of adhesive application, usage quantity
- rework cost or cost of failure is very high
Analysis:
- Automatic dispensing process is essential
- fast drying adhesives required
- adhesive manufacturer should be capable to provide complete solution: adhesive + dispensing system
Solution:
- Select the right industrial adhesive considering how it can be dispensed automatically, intergrated in your existing production line
- Choose the adhesive supplier who can provide turnkey solution: adhesive+ dispensing+integration with existing system
- upgrade your Industrial Adhesives engineering knowledge to choose right adhesive and supplier.