Collection: Double-Sided Adhesive Tape

A heavy duty double-sided tape now replaces the screw, the rivet and the spot weld on a growing number of assemblies. It spreads the load along the whole length of the joint instead of concentrating it at a few points, it does not pierce the material, and it seals the joint at the same time.

The 32 references in this range

• VHB acrylic foam, for durable structural bonding.
• PE foam and PU foam, for mounting light parts and taking up flatness defects.
• PET backing, for thin bonds on well fitted surfaces.
• Non-woven backing, soft and hand tearable.
• Transfer tapes, pure adhesive with no carrier.
• Dual Lock, reclosable mushroom fastening.

Foam or transfer, a question of thickness

A transfer tape is pure adhesive with no carrier, a few hundredths of a millimetre thick. It bonds two flat, well fitted surfaces without adding thickness, and that is its only role. It takes up no defect and absorbs no movement.

A foam tape adds material between the parts. That thickness is not a drawback, it is the function: it lets the joint deform, so it takes up a flatness defect and absorbs the differential expansion of two materials.

The simple rule: flat, rigid surfaces, use a transfer. As soon as there is a gap, a curve, vibration or two different materials, you need a foam.

Why acrylic foam lasts

An acrylic foam is viscoelastic: it deforms under load then dissipates the energy instead of passing it to the interfaces. An assembly that vibrates or works under temperature therefore has its stresses absorbed by the joint, rather than concentrated at the bond edges where a rigid adhesive would eventually let go.

Three conditions to reach the stated performance. A clean, dry, degreased surface. Effective roll-down pressure, in the order of 15 N/cm². And application above roughly fifteen degrees, since acrylic adhesive wets out far less in the cold.

Difficult plastics

Polypropylene, polyethylene and powder coated paints have low surface energy: the adhesive does not spread on them, it beads instead of wetting. Two solutions exist, an adhesive formulated for low surface energy, marked LSE, or a primer applied before taping.