Articles - Transportation - Market Spotlight

Sprayable Adhesives for Ease of Application

Thin adhesive films can be tricky to apply, but sprays can be a user-friendly means of doing so. However, conventional adhesive compositions are not always suited to this - and even if they are, it often takes lots of volatile solvents to propel them...
Hot Melt Sealants

The sealants industry has seen significant changes in recent years. Many of these changes are the result of demands from new substrates or for improved performance characteristics. However, some of the more rewarding changes have been due to demands...
Reducing Automotive Noise with Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Automotive manufacturers and tiered suppliers are constantly searching for faster and better ways to manufacture cars and subcomponents while reducing weight and decreasing costs...
Structural Adhesives in Over-the-Road Applications

The automotive industry has a wide variety of applications for adhesives and sealants. Nonstructural applications dominate, and they include all interior trim and much of the exterior trim such as side molding, wheel covering emblems, front and rear...
Adhesive and Sealants in the New Alternative Energy Market

Seldom does a completely new market erupt where adhesives and sealants can play a critical part. However, the embryonic alternative energy market may provide just such an opportunity. Adhesives and sealants are necessary components in the wind...
Cellular (Foam) Adhesives

The foaming of an adhesive within a joint is often an undesirable situation. However, in certain circumstances adhesives are purposely designed to foam or expand. There are several performance and production benefits that can be gained from an...
Epoxy Hybrid Adhesives

A variety of polymers, both thermosets as well as thermoplastics, can be blended and co-reacted with epoxy resins to provide for a specific set of desired properties. The most common of these are nitrile, phenolic, nylon, polysulfide, and...
Applying Liquid Adhesives

There are many processes involved in making a reliable adhesive bond, such as surface preparation, application of the adhesive, and final curing. These processes are critical and can make a fundamental difference in the quality of the bond and its...
Adhesives for Automotive Interiors

Adhesives have historically played a significant role in laminating, bonding and assembling components of automotive interiors for both aesthetic and performance reasons. In 2001, approximately 96 mil. dry pounds of adhesive were consumed in...
Improving the Moisture Resistance of Adhesives and Sealants - Part II

In a previous article, the various means by which moisture can affect adhesive and sealant joints were examined. A number of consequences result from the ingress of moisture to an adhesive or sealant including plasticization of the system and...
Reactive polyurethane adhesives for bonding wood

Polyurethane adhesives vary significantly in their composition and are used in many different applications in a broad range of market segments.
Porosity Sealants

Certain important materials such as cast metal, powdered metal, plastic, and ceramic provide component parts that have inherent microporosity. These sub-surface pores occur naturally during processing of the part.
Polymers for Roads and Bridges

This article reviews the development of adhesives and sealants for roads and bridges and describes the advantages that they provide. It focuses on advanced rehabilitation, retrofitting and strengthening technologies for existing civil engineering...
Sealant Joint Design

Joint sealing plays an important part in the overall performance of many products - from automobile engine components to large buildings.
Improving the Toughness of Structural Adhesives

Structural adhesives are designed for high strength, creep resistance, and resistance to harsh service environments such as high temperatures and chemicals. As a result, the base resins used in structural adhesive formulations tend to be highly...
Important considerations regarding adhesion to plastics
Thermosetting plastics

Plastics are usually more difficult to bond than other substrates. The outcome of the bonding process may be as dependent on the plastic substrate as it is on the adhesive being used. This dependence is due to the plastic's unique surface properties...
Innovation in Adhesive and Sealant Materials - Additives

During the past year or two, many new resins and additives have been introduced on the market. Adding significantly to the adhesive formulator's toolbox, these new products can be used to build innovative adhesive systems meeting the demanding...
Moisture Curing Mechanisms for Adhesives and Sealants

Moisture surrounds us, and it is abundant and costs nothing. Wouldn't it be fantastic if moisture could be used as a component in curing adhesives and sealants? And even more amazing if the products would cure without mixing, evaporation of solvent,...
Nondestructive Testing

Nondestructive testing (NDT) is nothing new. Applications for the non-destructive evaluation of adhesive joints date back to the early 1970s. The first pioneers used ultrasonic and infrared methods to detect voids and loose bonds in poorly made...
Building & Construction Adhesives Part VI: Structural and semi-structural applications, durability superior to 20 years

The article reviews the structural end uses, ie; the uses where the mechanical strength exceeds 5 to 10 Mpa in tensile shear strength and the durability exceeds 20 years, so that the strength and durability of the adhesive bonds are, more or less,...
The Use of Primers with Adhesives and Sealants

Some adhesives and sealants may provide only marginal adhesion to certain substrates. This could be due to the low surface energy of the substrate relative to the adhesive (e.g., epoxy bonding polyethylene) or to a cohesively weak boundary layer...
Sealants for Construction Part III-2: Elastomeric, High Performances Sealants

This article discusses the chemical types of elastomeric sealants used in construction industry. These sealants may be considered as high performances sealants because they have high capabilities of movement, service elongation from 15 to 40 %.