In Europe, around 9% of the total adhesive production goes into automobile manufacturing and a car today contains between 12 and 18 kgs of adhesive. Adhesives are used under the bonnet, on the body and the interior and exterior trims of the car, where they offer a number of benefits over traditional joining technologies.
As exterior designs have become more similar from model to model, vehicle interiors have become more important in defining one from the next. Demands for high quality interiors, especially in relation to a vehicle’s acoustic characteristics, aesthetic appeal and functional performance, have become a major differentiator.
tesa’s range of double-sided tapes for mounting exterior parts are said to offer powerful resilience to external factors such as moisture, UV radiation and temperature fluctuations for heated/non-heated mirrors, distance sensors, trims and emblems. Interior permanent mounting includes the mounting of interior vehicle component parts with pressure-sensitive tapes in the passenger compartment. Single and double-sided tapes are used in application areas including overhead systems, seats, dash boards, door modules, and luggage cover systems.
The secure bonding of different materials is also needed in the interior, such as on the headliner, door sill trim, mirrors, arm rests, steering wheel, occupant sensor, curtain airbag, seat backrest and cover or on the dashboard.
With single and double sided tapes, tesa is helping automotive designers respond to the latest trends and bring their interior designs to life, providing secure bonding on the diverse substrates often used in interiors, while ensuring noise damping – an essential element in guaranteeing customer satisfaction, product differentiation and elimination of re-working costs.
Indeed, tesa tapes play a major role in application across the entire bodywork of a car. For example, for vehicle identification numbers (VIN), certification, security or warning and instruction information, tesa manufacturers a range of automotive laser engraved tamper evident labels with customer-specific visible and hidden security features which can be integrated to maximise security against tampering.
The self-adhesive solutions used to seal holes in the car body are more efficient and cost-effective than the plastic plugs which are traditionally used. They are suitable for every process stage in vehicle production and offer outstanding puncture resistance, noise damping properties, maximum flexibility for uneven surfaces, excellent PVC and paint compatibility and high temperature resistance.
Products used to protect and bundle wire harnesses in the engine must be highly resistant to wear, temperature and chemicals; tesa’s wide range of wire harnessing tapes fulfils this function, says the company, offering good flexibility for easy installation, secure bundling and soundproofing features to prevent rattles.
In the future, adhesive tape technology is expected to take over functions and tasks that go beyond the scope of their traditional role of holding things together. tesa’s goal is to continue focusing on delivering advanced material properties that improve process efficiencies, as well as the quality and longevity of the final product.
