Category: Blog

Working in research and development at Structural Adhesives Ltd involves examining trends and innovation in each of the industries we supply. The purpose of this is to identify new areas where adhesives can be beneficial or areas where there is demand for new adhesives with particular properties. Part of exploring new trends is internet research and reading papers and articles. However, often the most useful information comes from talking to people in the industry. My colleagues and I have attended trade shows such as UK Construction Week and Advanced engineering (both held at the NEC, Birmingham) to meet others in the industries and find out what they are working on. As well as meeting many interesting people I came back to the office with a much clearer picture of where these industries will be in the coming years and how they will get there.

One particular trend that has captured my attention, and the attention of many others, is modular housing. Modular houses are built in factories and then transported to site. It is estimated that the build time of a modular house is less half that of a traditional home. As modular houses are typically built indoors in a factory, builders don’t experience delays due to weather which often occur with traditional builds. Furthermore, the quality of modular homes can be more tightly controlled than traditional homes due to the majority of construction taking place in a factory. There are even some claims that modular homes are more energy efficient due to the tighter control when building. Due to the reduction in build time and subsequent lower labour costs per home, modular houses are likely to be significantly cheaper than traditional homes. Could modular housing be the answer to the 300,000 homes a year that need to be built to end the UK’s housing crisis? 

With the production of modular homes taking off, the construction supply chain (adhesives included) are likely to see some changes in terms of materials required and their properties. Structural Adhesives Ltd are always looking for ways to support the building industry in finding bonding solutions for emerging construction methods.  

With vehicle emissions becoming increasingly scrutinised manufacturers are searching for new, innovative ways to reduce them. Lightweight substrates are quickly becoming the norm but often present challenges not seen in the past. Joining dissimilar materials is no mean feat but can be accomplished with the use of adhesives. When temperature fluctuates dissimilar materials expand and contract at different rates. Adhesives are typically better able to cope with these differences than mechanical fastenings. Additionally, the need for heavy rivets and bolts is reduced when adhesives are used and this decreases the overall weight of the vehicle even further. Adhesives also provide superior performance than mechanical fixings as the stress is spread over a larger area and therefore fatigue and failure are less likely to occur. For efficient production manufacturers often require an adhesive with a rapid cure time such as S-585/85A.

The most thorough way of reducing emissions is to switch to electric cars, the popularity of which is escalating at an alarming rate. Electric car batteries are complex and are made up of many cells which are joined together to form modules. The modules are encased in composite or aluminium and fixed in a durable cage to provide protection during a crash. Thermally conductive adhesives are used in electric car batteries to maintain constant temperature and prevent thermal runaways. An example of a thermally conductive adhesive is S-205E.

 Its well-known that electric vehicles are significantly quieter than those with conventional combustion engines. Previously unnoticed vibration noises that were masked by the engine are now becoming an irritation to customers. Adhesives and sealants such as S-1008E, can also be used to provide a sound damping effect and improve customer satisfaction.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will have heard that we only have a few years to stop the temperature of Earth rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celcius. Barely a day goes by where climate change is not discussed in the news. The topic is fraught with politics and the differing opinions of influential figures, sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the debate and forget to take action. Slowing down climate change successfully will take the collaboration of entire communities and the adhesives and sealants industry is no exception.

Renewable energy is one aspect of the fight against climate change and will become even more heavily relied upon as fossil fuels begin to run out. Adhesives and sealants are critical for many applications in the renewable energy sector and without them slowing down climate change would be near impossible.

Solar panels require adhesives in both the assembly and mounting of the photovoltaics modules. Products are used for encapsulation of the crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell and have very good thermal resistance and low moisture uptake. An adhesive is also used for bonding the substrate, photovoltaic cell and back sheet together. This adhesive must have low moisture vapour transmission, good heat and chemical resistance, high bond strength and good optical clarity. Furthermore, adhesives are often used to mount the modules onto racks and the racks onto roofs or more commonly to bond the panels directly to roofs to eliminate the heavy racks.

Wind turbines typically consist of three sections, the tower, the blades and hub and the section in which the equipment is held, known as the nacelle. All of these sections require adhesives and sealants, however, the vast majority are used for the blades. These adhesives must have very high shear and peel strengths and good heat resistance to enable to blades to withstand harsh winds. Wind turbine towers are usually made of steel but concrete towers are becoming more common. Concrete towers are made of segments stacked on-top of each other and in-between each segment is 2-part epoxy resin. Sealants are typically used for the nacelle cover and anaerobic threadlockers are also used in the nacelle.

Next post in this series

The effect of a changing climate on adhesive use

New Video demonstrating the use of S-2300E to bond Corium Brick Slip Corners

 

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Legislation to improve the environment people live in is becoming increasingly common in our modern age. Awareness of the hazards of living with chemicals has grown, and increased the need for safer alternatives to the products that have been used for years.

Reactive acrylic bonding based on Methyl Methacrylate is an industry standard product that has been used since the 1970’s; but Methyl Methacrylate is highly flammable, extremely smelly, narcotic, sensitising and a respiratory irritant. Yet the industry has found it difficult to move away from this monomer because the adhesives made from it are high in strength and very reactive.

Many alternatives lack the bond strength or reactivity of Methyl Methacrylate based products. Also adhesive stability can be an issue, reactive systems are complex mixtures and it is always a balance between effectiveness and stability.

Like other adhesives, the baby has often been thrown out with the bathwater, in the name of health and safety. Well, this is my personal opinion although I do understand current trends are leading towards a safer environment for all.

We are left with the dilemma “how to make things safer without compromising the products performance?” We at Structural Adhesives Limited are dedicated to improving our products in line with current thinking and customer safety is a major concern for our development team. We developed low odour, safer alternatives in the 1990’s products such as S-605/01A and S-608/88A, and we are continuing out research to the present day with new products coming onto the market in 2019.

If you were to ask any professional in the construction industry their number one concern at the moment they would undoubtedly say combustibility of materials. After the tragic events of Grenfell tower the general public have (rightly so) been questioning the fire safety of buildings they live and work in. Pressure is building on manufacturers to supply materials that are lower risk in terms of fire safety. An announcement from the government calling a ban on combustible materials on buildings over 18 m has made the issue all the more urgent. As assistant chemist at Structural Adhesives Ltd this issue has lately been taking up a lot of space in my mind.

The guidelines to fire safety of materials are by no means straight forward. Words such as combustibility, flammability, fire-resistant and fire-retardant all have different meanings but are often used interchangeably by corporations making it difficult to determine what is required. My initial investigations into fire rating regulations unearthed a number of different classification systems (each with their own criteria) which left my head spinning, and I can’t be the only one.

Thankfully to ease some of the confusion the government have specifically mentioned one the of systems, the Euroclass system. It has been stated that only materials classified as A1 and A2 in this system will be permitted for use above 18 m. A1 and A2 ratings correspond to non-combustible materials and materials of limited combustibility respectively. But are these materials available to buy? The answer is yes, to an extent. For example, there are cladding and brick slip systems available that are A1/A2 rated but how are these designed to be fixed to the building? If the answer is an adhesive then is this adhesive also A1/A2 rated? Adhesives usually used for these applications contain large amounts of carbon and are by no means non-combustible.

A truly non-combustible adhesive designed for bonding cladding, now that’s something worth thinking about.

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News recently reached earth from the international space station of a leak in a Russian Soyuz space craft. A collision with a micrometeorite caused a hole 2 mm in diameter which lead to a drop in pressure inside the space craft. The astronauts aboard the space station were in a position of needing to repair the leak to prevent oxygen concentration in the cabin falling over time. With guidance from the flight controllers in Huston and Moscow and the limited resources available the astronauts successfully sealed the hole. This repair work was carried out using epoxy resin and gauze tape carried in the maintenance kit aboard the space station. The epoxy resin used was a regular epoxy resin sold commercially in stores according to a retired Russian astronaut.

This news from outside our atmosphere highlights yet another, probably little-known application for epoxy resins. The use of epoxies in space demonstrates their ability to thrive even in harsh environments. Epoxy resin was the solution to repairing the international space station and may very well be the solution to thousands of problems still faced by architects and engineers.

Reversible, Renewable, Recycled Adhesives Have To Be The Future

The buzzwords for my generation (people try to put us down!) are of course sustainability, renew-ability and recycle-ability. Things are running out.   Every time I hear them mentioned I become the warrior woman Boadicea, I want to wage war on anyone who isn’t embracing this issue at full throttle.  However trying to explain the mega importance attached to the dynamics of recycling to my kids, who lets face it, are going to be the unenviable beneficiaries of an earth literally devoured by generations of wasters, users and resource chomping monsters is like banging my head against my green recycling bin, all pain and no gain!

My day began with a ‘can you please put the heating on its cold?’ ‘No’ I said in unison with my husband, (a rare show of mutual defiance) ‘put another jumper on and think of the worlds depleting resources!’ I shouted as if my life depended on it.  But it fell on deaf ears, so whilst my kids were shoveling porridge into their mouths, I asked my kids to think about waste, and was promptly met with ‘I’ve changed my mind about this porridge, I don’t want it’ from my 12 year old….aarrgh!!!!  Unthwarted I decided to take my soapbox to work and continue there.

The topic of resource efficiency is looming like the biggest tropical storm cloud to brace this side of the Universe. We have all heard of endangered species but what of our endangered resources? Raw materials are becoming more and more difficult to source, the bigger companies holding the monopoly and in the process throwing their millions at everyone in the vain hope of securing it all.  Where does that leave us, the SME’s trying our best to survive in what can only be described as a double hit….he uncertainty of business AND resources….how do you come back from that?  Things are running out (reiterated to mark the gravity of this fact), touch phone mobiles use an element called Indium, a rare earth metal, resources of this are finite along with the forty nine other elements used in mobile phones, including Gold.  Wind turbines use magnets containing Niobium (rare as hens teeth my Senior Chemist informs me!).  Recycling processes could allow Industry to reclaim these and many more endangered elements and allow them to be reintroduced at the manufacturing stage. All a bit too easy peasy you would think.  Suddenly, the ear-worm planted by my 12 year old found its way to my brain, ‘mum can you recycle glue?’ A reversible, renewable, recycled adhesive….now that can’t be bad idea.  Stick close.

Is Glue Ear, Glue For Your Ear?

When faced with the question ‘is glue ear, glue for your ear?’ from my ever questioning 10 year old, my prompt reply was an emphatic ‘no!’.  This did not subdue his enquiry but served to then prompt a formal systematic questioning about glue, testing my patience to its limit.  Now the idea that your ear could produce a glue like fluid was almost like telling my son an alien life form had landed in our back garden. He refused to believe me, but was so intrigued, he wanted to know more.  So I thought I would enlighten him further, and hopefully quell this new found need for interrogation that wouldn’t be out of place at our local police station!  His jaw dropped as I told him that years ago cyanoacrylate was invented as a medical adhesive, used to bond cut skin and tissue together.  Of course, we have all reached for it when we have smashed the family heirloom (albeit on purpose), needed to mend or stick all manner of things, ranging from handles back onto mugs or a last minute ditch at fixing your false nails (I speak from firsthand experience of the latter when I was a poor Industrial Design student!).  All of you in the world of adhesives realise that cyanoacrylates are commonly known as superglue! But is there such a thing as a Super Glue?

Super Glues are like superheroes, there are many and all claim to yield different powers, we all have our favourites, the only difference being that the former exist.   I, at present am becoming increasingly interested in the notion of powerful adhesives that can fix or bond anything together, but to my disdain there are still the non believers… and boy have I come across a few recently.  Sticking (excuse the pun) to an idea that is traditional is not always the best course of action.  I say make way for the old and let in the new, adhesives can replace the need for rivets and welding (labour intensive and expensive to boot) for example but there are traditionalists out there refusing to give them a chance. At Structural Adhesives Ltd we have a superb range of products that can eliminate the need for mechanical fixing….to me this is truly super glue technology at its finest.  After all the talk of glue ear, my young son is now left wondering if any of the other orifices of his body also produce sticky substances…….hmm I think that this is a subject I will not be addressing anytime in the near future! Stick close.

A Blog is Born

One of the many jobs arising from being a Director of an adhesive manufacturing company like Structural Adhesives Ltd, is to be able to translate and communicate the business effectively. I have been given, what can only be described as the loathsome task of doing this via the land of technology, but which bit, eh? ‘Obviously she picked a Blog’, I hear you all say, however not without engaging in what can only be described as a sit-down pros and cons shortlist which I have always retained for projects of a serious nature. However ‘Social Media Platforms’ are serious business and I have actively sought advice about them from my teenage daughters, who are highly knowledgeable in its usage, functionality and very clear to highlight the importance of ones profile photo? Here we go…

Facebook (it used to be a no-go for those of us who have well and truly left their formative years. However it has become the first port of call for many a person who can remember the terms ‘floppy disk’, and other vintage technologies, and ‘its so you mum!’, I hear my daughter yell (thanks for that) then there’s linkedin the home of the ‘angry’ profile picture, twitter (a never-ending beep of tweets haunts my day from start to finish), snapchat (I am literally a ‘Grandma’ in comparison to its average user age), pinterest (artsy fartsy) tumblr, and a whole assortment of social media tools which seem to enjoy irritating me by leaving the letter ‘e’ off their title.

So here we are, at the Blog, the choice of millions and me.? I think this is supposed to be the point where I talk about the business but as this is my maiden voyage with my blog, (hopefully I won’t end up like the Titanic), I will leave you with an interesting fact about adhesives……..

You can make your own glue and you can eat it!? (personally I am not endorsing this, although it would add to your 5 a day!) vegetable glue is a simple recipe: starch and water, (flour or cornflour will do) et voila!

Now, for lessons in how to formulate, manufacture and supply adhesives, that’s an altogether different story and something that I will try and get to grips with (sorry, I really couldn’t resist!) over the life of this blog….adieu for now