UV curing adhesives bond in seconds

Citation

(2007), "UV curing adhesives bond in seconds", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 79 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2007.12779dad.015

UV curing adhesives bond in seconds

UV curing adhesives bond in seconds

Devcon is adding a new range of high performance structural adhesives to its existing portfolio of epoxy and methacrylate adhesives for industry. Now companies needing to bond difficult substrates such as glass, plastics and dissimilar metals can do so in seconds without environmental and safety hazards by utilising Devcon's new range of UV light-curing adhesives.

Devcon is well known for its special methacrylate and epoxy adhesives which are designed to bond metals, plastics and wood-based components such as signs, external lights and aircraft seats. These adhesives have been growing in popularity since their introduction to Europe 25 years ago and recently new products have been added to the range. One component heat curing epoxies are now available which are reported to give exceptional heat resistance to structures composed of metals, wood, glass and fabrics. New two part polyurethane adhesives are said to be very fast setting and will bond unprimed ABS, steel, aluminium and composites.

Because of the company's success in this area, they are now adding to their existing portfolio and launching a completely new range of UV curing products that have been well proven and accepted by major end-users in the USA.

Says Devcon's European business manager Roland Grasch “Sales of our existing product range have grown faster than we planned and because of this success we believe the time is right to launch our UV curing adhesives. These will offer our customers specific advantages over ordinary products. What is very different is once the adhesive is applied the parts can be left for hours if necessary before the bond is formed but once UV light is applied to the glue line, the bond is cured within a few seconds. We have developed one of the products to bond some difficult plastics such as ABS, acrylic and polycarbonates.”

The new products have been trademarked “Tru-Bond” adhesives. The 18100 series bond glass to glass and dissimilar substrates such as steel and aluminium and cure to a hard, rigid polymer when exposed to light.

The Tru-Bond 18200 series bond plastics including ABS, acrylic and polycarbonate, forming flexible bonds with reportedly superior resilience and impact resistance. They are said to cure faster than super-glues and can be cured through translucent substrates.

Tru-Bond 18300 “dome-coating” series can be dyed or pigmented lending themselves to the bonding of decals, jewellery, tags and emblems. There are thin versions which flow and self-level onto capacitors and resistors protecting flexible substrates once set.

Finally, the Tru-Bond18400 series are pressure sensitive solvent free liquids. These can be applied directly to parts or as films which are then UV- cured to create pressure sensitive adhesives. The glue line thickness can vary and once cured they are said to provide an excellent combination of peel strength and creep resistance.

Details available from: ITW Performance Polymers Europe, Tel: +44 (0) 1933 354 563, Fax: +44 (0) 870 458 9077, web site: www.itw-devcon.co.uk