In this interview, industry expert Don Ashley provides insights into why specialty vehicles rely on bonding tapes for strength and longevity.
What are some key considerations when using bonding tapes in specialty vehicles?
Specialty transportation vehicles such as buses, emergency vehicles, and utility trucks must employ cutting-edge materials that can endure challenging environmental conditions, including water and moisture, high winds, UV exposure, and extreme hot or cold temperatures.
Any materials used must also maintain visual appeal and structural integrity throughout a vehicle’s operational life.
Bonding tapes such as Norbond® bonding tapes offer straightforward installation, robust adhesion, long-term reliability, and a cleaner appearance, making them an ideal choice for securing roof and body side panels, exterior trim and emblems, and important instrumentation in commercial vehicles.
How do Norbond bonding tapes help to streamline installation processes?
Norbond Bonding Tapes represent an ideal solution for customers looking to streamline automated processes, reduce assembly time, and reduce labor costs.
These bonding tapes can be applied simply and easily, and it is possible to cut them to shape or slit them into roll form. A durable bond is formed mere minutes after the bonding tape has been applied, making them effective replacements for conventional mechanical fasteners.
For example, Norbond A7600 and A7700 tapes can achieve 80 % of ultimate adhesion within 30 minutes. These tapes have been specifically designed to offer enhanced short-term adhesion performance to help support assembly in the field.
Norbond Attachment Tapes are an ideal option for automated lines. They help improve efficiency and minimize the risk of manual errors.
When used in assembly line presses for tape attachment, the tape only needs to be applied around 15 psi of pressure for at least five seconds, and no specialist processing equipment is required to facilitate this.
It is also possible to dispense and match slit rolls or pre-cut pads of attachment tapes to the bond area, thanks to the capacity of Norbond A7600 or A7700’s easy-release liner for seamless removal and rapid application.
In what ways do Norbond bonding tapes help improve longevity and durability in specialty vehicle applications?
Norbond tapes employed in specialty vehicle applications can withstand vibration loads and shock—an essential consideration for vehicles prone to traveling over rough surfaces at high speeds and often exposed to high wind and dynamic pressure.
These robust bonding tapes maintain dimensional stability even when exposed to challenging environmental conditions. For example, Norbond A7600 and A7700 have been specifically designed with high elongation potential, allowing them to endure potential thermal expansion due to changes in temperature following application.
How important is versatility when considering the application of bonding tapes in specialty vehicles?
Bonding in specialty vehicles requires that products exceed traditional industry standards regarding their strength and capacity to bond to different surface energy substrates, even at elevated temperatures.
Products like Norbond A7600 and A7700 excel when used under these conditions, boasting excellent peel, tensile, and dynamic shear adhesion performance.
Both products can be successfully employed with high and medium surface energy materials like metals or ABS plastic sheets, offering robust durability and long-lasting adhesion, even under extreme temperatures.
The versatility of these bonding tapes also extends to commercial vehicle applications, where these products are often used as dependable alternatives to traditional fastening systems.
What benefits do Norbond bonding tapes offer in terms of their visual appeal?
Customers in various applications require bonding tapes to offer visual appeal and robust performance, meaning tape color must also be considered.
Black acrylic foam tape, such as the Norbond A7700, is often preferred on more visible edges. This provides clean sightlines, minimizing the visibility of the attachment. Grey-colored bonding tapes are also extremely popular in other applications, with the A7600 tape seeing widespread use.
Applications such as car emblem fixation and ornamentation benefit from using the V2800 polyurethane bonding tape, which is ideally suited to bonding these smaller pieces because it has been specially designed to minimize distortion.
Applications such as roof bow attachment and panel bonding where slit rolls are required also use bonding tape because this distributes stress along the length of the tape rather than featuring specific stress pressure points—a common issue with mechanical fasteners.
Why is resistance to all weathering conditions a critical consideration for specialty vehicles?
Specialty vehicles are often continuously exposed to harsh external environments, meaning fastening applications require materials that can resist extreme temperatures, high winds, water and moisture, and other challenging conditions.
Any tapes used in this setting must be specially engineered to allow components' thermal expansion and contraction without becoming soft at elevated temperatures or brittle in sub-zero temperatures.
Materials must be water- and moisture-resistant and not lose adhesion or shape when exposed to water or other liquids.
Norbond A7600 and A7700 bonding boasts first-class adhesion and viscoelastic properties, making it suitable for exterior and interior applications under challenging environmental conditions.
Lastly, could you summarize the specific advantages of Norbond bonding tapes for use in specialty vehicle manufacturing?
Norbond bonding tapes like the A7700, A7600, or V2800 prioritize efficiency, versatility, durability, and aesthetic appeal, making them ideally suited for contemporary specialty vehicle design.
Norbond bonding tapes offer numerous advantages over their mechanical counterparts when used to meet rigorous operational and environmental challenges.
These products help streamline installation processes and represent effective solutions for the ever-changing requirements of modern vehicle design.
About Don Ashley 
Don Ashley holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Mississippi. He is the District Sales Manager at Saint Gobain Tape Solutions and has over 15 years'experience in industry.
This information has been sourced, reviewed, and adapted from materials provided by Saint Gobain PPL Corp.
For more information on this source, please visit Saint Gobain PPL Corp.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork, the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and Conditions of use of this website.