Adhesives and High Performance

high performance


Achieving high performance is a crucial — and perhaps obvious — end goal in all manufacturing circumstances. No matter what product you are manufacturing, you want it to perform at the highest possible level.

The fastening method you choose when assembling your product can play a big role in the final performance of your finished product. From small items like hinges and gaskets to huge parts of complicated systems like airplane wings, adhesive can offer performance improvements that are difficult or even impossible to achieve with non-adhesive fastening methods.

Here are two ways in which using adhesives can offer peak performance

1) Adhesives allow the use of high strength, low weight materials

Traditional fastening methods like rivets, screws and welding are excellent for joining high strength, high weight materials together. In a situation that calls for the use of heavy weight metals or wood, these methods are perfectly fine.

But those materials are not available or even advisable for all applications. In aerospace engineering, for example, using these materials would be highly impractical.

Using adhesives as the fastening method in these applications allows for the use of high-performance plastics and laminates, ideal materials for a situation where both strength and weight are a premium.

2) Adhesives limit the drawbacks of other fastening options

Non-adhesive fastening options also bring certain drawbacks.

No matter the material used in your application, welding can introduce weakening. Even when taking steps to reduce the affects, some heat-induced weakening is inevitable. The same is true for riveting or screwing, which introduces stress weakening to the fastening area. Adhesives are a straightforward solution to these problems, allowing for fastening without weakening due to heat or stress.

Non-adhesive fastening methods also add weight to your finished product, but that’s not the case with adhesives. A continuous line bond in adhesive fastening eliminates weight common to other fastening methods while providing uniform adhesion across a broad surface, adding strength and increasing durability.