Application and current method
Stiffeners, inserted to provide product rigidity, were traditionally joined inside the panels and doors by spot welding.
Customer issue
This conventional method left surface marks which took extensive sanding and finishing to remove. The quality of the paintwork around the spot welded areas was often below standard and re- working, along with additional incurred costs, had to be factored in as a result. The main objective was to find an alternative bonding solution capable of improving both the application and the processes involved.
tesa assessment and proposal
The customer team from tesa carried out an assessment and testing programme using 19mm tesa® ACXplus 7074 as a recommended alternative to spot welding.
Assessing tesa® ACXplus 7074’s bonding power involved extensive testing on mock panels / doors and different lengths, thicknesses and widths of stiffener. The test specimens were heat cured at ‘actual’ temperatures and hung in different positions and sequences for varying lengths of time, with the result that product performance was positively signed off.
Outcome
Bonding was found to be effective and as strong as spot welds, while the steps involved in production were minimised and the customer is now benefiting from time savings amounting to over 50 hours a month.
As results of the tests showed, significant advantages can be found in its high temperature resistance. Adding to this, the strength of tesa® ACXplus bonding power can also be seen in its weather resistance and the ability to absorb dynamic forces and vibrations to provide stress relief in bonded joints – features that make it particularly well suited to moving parts, such as acoustic doors, which need to withstand the strain of repeated usage in long-term indoor and outdoor applications.
tesa UK Ltd,
Yeomans Drive, Blakelands, Milton Keynes, MK14 5LS Tel: 01908 500333
Email: ukenquiry@tesa.com
tesa.co.uk
tesa® products prove their impressive quality day in, day out in demanding conditions and are regularly subjected to strict controls. All technical information and data above mentioned are provided to the best of our knowledge on the basis of our practical experience. They shall be considered as average values and are not appropriate for a specification. Therefore tesa SE can make no warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The user is responsible for determining whether the tesa® product is fit for a particular purpose and suitable for the user’s method of application. If you are in any doubt, our technical support staff will be glad to support you.
