Mechanical fasteners used to be the most common and utilized method for joining parts in a machine or device before adhesives is gradually replacing them because of requirements for assemble mixed materials in one device/machine
The trend toward lighter vehicles and smaller devices drives the manufacturers to find a more flexible and easier fastener setting to use.
Adhesives appear to have so many advantages over traditional fastening to conform to new requirements in manufacturing industry
1. Decrease labor cost
While welding must be done by trained and highly skilled engineers with experience to ensure a perfect welding position, adhesives are much simpler to apply in a variety of applications. That is why it helps lower working labor costs and time.
2. Decrease production cost (including materials cost)
In most parts of a device/machine, especially handheld devices, sealing is a necessary step after bonding to protect devices from contamination, dust, moisture, etc.
With adhesive application, these two steps are conducting simultaneously because of the inherently chemical properties of the glue/tape.
Bonding using adhesives also takes less time than welding, which is a lot of money saved
When drilling, a thick enough material needs to be used to ensure the resistance ability but if stress is distributed across the entire bond area using adhesives, thinner material can be used.
3. Aesthetic
In the era of quick decisions, your products must catch the customer’s attention from the first sight through products’ appearance. This is the first and one of the most important touchpoints between your product and potential customers.
By using adhesive, you do not have to drill on the surface, and the bonding areas are almost invisible in the end-user products. Your product design also can be more diverse and creative because of the flexible form and variety bonding strength of adhesive.
Replace bolts by adhesive also lower weight for end products.
4. More reliability
Instead of focusing stress on a particular area like screws, rivets, or bolts, adhesives bonding distribute stress evenly across surfaces.
With the viscoelastic characteristic, adhesives are energy absorptive and improve the impact, vibration, and fatigue performance of your design.
One last important thing that needs to be noted is the bonding process using adhesives can be automated using a dispensing system which is much faster and more consistent than traditional welding method
Many industries are moving forward with this trend including automotive, electronics, etc.
Need more consultants on how to shift from using mechanical fasteners to adhesives, contact us at:
Hotline: +84 984 695 398
Email: gluexpert@prostech.ph
