This bonding solution combines 3M VHB Tapes with a liquid adhesive in a single contained footprint.
For more than 40 years, 3M VHB Tape has redefined manufacturing design and assembly processes, allowing users to bond industrial materials quickly, securely, and permanently without the use of mechanical fasteners such as screws or rivets. Initially used for bonding panels to the frames of specialty vehicles like ambulances and box trucks, this bonding solution proved superior to other methods due to its ability to distribute stress loads across an entire surface instead of concentrating stress loads around each individual fastener.
3M VHB Extrudable Tape combines the best qualities of high-strength acrylic foam tape with the versatility of liquid adhesives. While liquid adhesives offer excellent versatility with the application, they can be messy, difficult to handle, increase waste, and require longer curing times, all factors that increase manufacturing time and overall costs. In contrast, the 3M On Demand Bonding System -- designed to work with the Nordson ProBond System -- eliminates liners and container waste while providing immediate material bonding and handling strength. These benefits help significantly streamline, simplify, and speed up production operations.
Shipped on spools, 3M VHB Extrudable Tape comes in the form of a long, coiled spool that is easily stored and doesn't require special packaging or handling. Unlike large, complex liquid adhesive machines, the 3M On Demand Bonding System has a small footprint (76mm x94mm) and very few moving parts, allowing easy integration into assembly lines without a long list of replacement parts.
3M VHB Extrudable Tape is said to work on curved surfaces, irregular shapes, and dissimilar materials. The system can manage most inline or offline bonding situations involving metals, glass, rubber, woven surfaces, and plastics, alone or in combination with each other. As a result, Extrudable Tape can be used across multiple parts of the manufacturing process as a single adhesive that replaces several specialized solutions.
Bonded parts are ready to be handled immediately, and the system also requires little to no surface preparation. The tape's stretch release technology provides a quick and easy adhesive removal process.
"3M VHB Extrudable Tape does things no tape or liquid adhesive could ever do", says Patrick Meifert, Global Portfolio Director of 3M. "It's an entirely new category of product and bonding solution for manufacturing innovation. This bonding system creates endless design and application possibilities at scale -- whether you're a global multinational or a local manufacturing business."
