What is the number one cause of adhesive failure? Undoubtedly it is choosing the incorrect type of adhesive for an application. Selecting an adhesive that cannot bond to particular substrates can cause issues such as reduced adhesive strength, loss of adhesion over time, bubbling caused by outgassing of foams, and even separation due to chemical incompatibility. Determining the correct adhesive when bonding to foam and other materials is challenging, especially when seeking to provide a customer an accurate quote quickly. To help Converters simplify adhesive choices and feel confident in the combinations, Avery Dennison Performance Tapes along with Armacell, has developed an adhesive bonding study. This study classified and defined the performance of Avery Dennison Core Series™ Portfolio adhesives when used with Armacell’s Component Foam products primarily used in aerospace, automotive, building and construction, industrial, medical, packaging and sport/leisure segments.

Not all adhesives work with all foam polymers resulting in poor adhesion and costly re-manufacturing. Additionally, researching the right pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) that are compatible with foam substrates can be time consuming. “We’re pleased to work with Avery Dennison and provide this resource for our customers,” said Isabel Wright, Senior Technical Manager, Armacell. “Over sixty years of foam innovation enables us to design optimized cell structures and densities for specific physical properties, custom engineered to customer needs. This study further emphasizes our commitment to meeting our customers’ changing demands.”

Four Questions to Help Determine the Correct Adhesive Solution

The Core Series Product Selection Tool helps walk converters through the information gathering process by following four simple steps that assist in determining the correct adhesive for an application

  1. What type of material will you be laminating to? Some common substrates include foams, fibrous nonwovens, felts, fabrics, films, or foils.
  2. What is the surface energy of the substrate the laminated part is adhering to? The types of surface energy options are high, medium, low, and extra low.
  3. Are there any other end use application requirements? Some considerations are temperature resistance, humidity resistance, solvent or chemical resistance, or UV resistance
  4. What tape construction is needed? Choosing the construction and liner combination that is suited for the application based on the bonding study.

These are all simple examples of many of the questions converters will need to have answered by their customers to ensure ease of use for their customers. Also, since adhesives can be the more expensive element of a PSA foam part; it seems prudent to do the homework to ensure that you don’t waste adhesive in trials. When the correct information is gathered from the customer then the right adhesive choice can be chosen with a high level of confidence. Armacell and Avery Dennison Performance Tapes’ collaboration on this bonding study and subsequent reference guide make doing business with our companies easier as we’ve done the testing and research so you don’t have to.

To read more or view the bonding study, visit: https://tapes.averydennison.com/content/dam/averydennison/pt/doc/bonding-study-armacell-component-foams.pdf