Silicone adhesive lowers costs

Louise Davis

Back-up cameras, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection and forward collision warnings are all among the hottest new features driving sales of today’s automotive vehicles.

As a result, OEMs and their suppliers are quickly innovating new sensor and display designs specifically for use in the comparatively harsh automotive environment.

In addition to needing to be more compact and robust, these electronic systems must also support quick, cost-effective assembly in compliance with automakers’ quality standards.

Even before these trends emerged, transportation manufacturers had long sought adhesive solutions that could cure faster and at lower temperatures while delivering strong adhesion properties across a wide range of materials.

Now, there’s a solution designed to meet all of these challenges. The new Dow Corning EA-5151 Quick in Connect (QiC) Adhesive harnessess the durability and excellent performance characteristics of silicone technology.

This one-part, low-odour silicone adhesive delivers instant green strength and strong, durable bonds between common plastic and metal substrates, including those with low energy surfaces.

In practical terms, its green strength simply means that assembled parts can be handled immediately after application, often eliminating wait time as well as assembly aids, such as mechanical fasteners and screws.

The first product in Dow Corning’s planned QiC series, EA-5151 QiC Adhesive is dispensed as a liquid with a plunger-equipped gun or a robotic dispenser, and reacts with ambient moisture to cure at room temperature into a solid viscoelastic material that bonds without the need for primers.

The material’s adhesion strength increases after three days.

However, if heated to temperatures between 120°C and 130°C within the first 24 hours of application, the adhesive can be removed and reapplied allowing for easy reworkability of parts.

After full cure, EA-5151 QiC Adhesive remains flexible, and is resistant to both shock and impact.

EA-5151 QiC Adhesive offers a more energy-, time- and cost-efficient alternative to assembling components with heat-cured adhesives or double-sided tapes.

Developed in close collaboration with automotive designers it addresses the demand for greater end-product reliability and performance, while meeting the needs of Tier 1 global production systems.