Previously, stiffeners on the doors had been spot welded into place, and this involved a number of different processes both pre and post-welding, consuming significant man-hours and using various additional tools/products to prepare or make good the immediate areas around the welds. In an attempt to obviate this, the door manufacturer sought alternative mounting options for the stiffeners, and it was at this point that tesa engineers met with the customer team.
Retaining – or increasing – structural rigidity was just one of a number of primary design considerations described for the application, together with the need to effect labour, tooling and consumables savings by either reducing or eliminating pre and post-welding activities.
Initial trials followed using tesa ACXplus 7074 double sided tape and these revealed that all of the necessary design criteria were met for structural and torsional strength. Further testing, replicating the production process, revealed significant savings through the eradication of all the previously-used processes necessary with welding. As a result, the customer has benefited from time savings alone of more than 50 hours/month on this single assembly.
Other added advantages offered by tesa ACXplus 7074 also proved of value to the customer, notably an increased resistance to temperature variations together with better weathering performance and increased longevity of the joints compared to welding. Moreover, the use of tape has improved the ability of the structure to absorb shock and vibration, and the bonded joints also provide superior stress relief properties compared to those which were present previously.
tesa ACXplus 7074 is just one of a wide range of engineered tape solutions which visitors to the FAST Live event will be able to examine and discuss on the tesa stand. The show takes place on March 12th next year at the superb British Motor Museum adjacent to the Aston Martin and JLR plants south of Warwick. Located just 1 minute from the M40, the museum houses almost 300 unique, rare and interesting vehicles highlighting the UK’s automotive heritage – and entry is free to all pre-registered FAST Live visitors!
