The Best Adhesive Tapes for Gasketing Applications
The very purpose of gaskets—to create a tight seal between two surfaces for the purpose of blocking liquid and/or air—requires that the gasketing material creates a seal between two surfaces. Gaskets can be compression fit or mechanically fastened into position, but in most cases, adhesives are used to bond them into place. While liquid adhesives are sometimes used for gasket bonding, it is more common for pressure sensitive adhesives to be pre-applied to the gasketing material. This enables the user to simply remove the disposable silicone release liner from the part and easily bond the gasket into place.
Choosing the Right PSA Tape for Gasketing Applications
Choosing the right type of PSA tape for your gasketing application is a critical decision. It is important to consider the surfaces to be bonded and the application environment. Gaskets (often made of rubber or foam) fill the space between two different surfaces to create your seal. You’ll need to choose an adhesive tape that strongly bonds to both the gasketing material and to the secondary substrate(s).
The surface energy of the material, porosity, rigidity, and thickness are also important considerations when choosing the right PSA. For example, anchoring to silicone rubber gasket may force you to consider a silicone PSA tape, while adhering to a thick ultra-high molecular weight polyethene housing may call for a rubber PSA based tape or low surface energy bonding acrylic PSA tape. It may even require a foam tape to ensure adhesive wet out.
Many foam gasket materials also lack significant dimensional stability, in which case a double-sided tape should be used to add this feature, if needed. Similarly, considering the environment in which the gasket will need to adhere is also critical. Depending on the application, the PSA tape may need to be resistant to certain chemicals, solvents, and UV light, as well as be able to function under specified temperatures. Not all adhesive types are able to withstand chemical, fuel, weather, or temperature extremes. Such factors will help determine whether to use a rubber-based PSA tape, a modified acrylic PSA tape, or silicone PSA tape.
Why Use Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tapes for Gasketing Applications
There are many types of adhesive tapes on the market, and there are many advantages to using them in gasketing applications:
Flexibility: PSA tapes can conform to irregular shapes. They can also be custom cut to size, allowing them to be used on any custom gasket regardless of shape or size.
Low profile: PSA tapes can be ultra-thin. They do not add a significant amount of thickness or weight to a product and provide an aesthetically pleasing finish.
Temperature, solvent, fuel, and weather resistance: some PSA tapes can operate in a wide range of environments and can be resistant to solvent, fuel, and chemical exposure common in extreme applications.
Strong adhesion to a wide array of substrates: PSA tapes can form a strong, long-lasting bond with the surface of many materials, and they are effective at joining dissimilar materials.
Easy to apply: PSA tapes instantly bond with surfaces and are easy to apply, which can cut down the time to assemble products during manufacturing.
3rd hand: even if the gasket is ultimately compression fit, PSA tapes adhered during the manufacturing process can ease the assembly process by eliminating labor or fixtures.
Affordable: PSA tapes are cost efficient, especially when compared to metal fasteners and other components used to join materials together. Best of all PSA tapes can be pre-applied to your gasket material which then in turn, can also be custom cut to your exact specifications.
Choosing the Right PSA Tape Material for Gaskets
There are three primary types of PSA tape materials suitable for gasketing applications:
Acrylic tapes: can perform under a wide range of temperatures and environmental extremes. No matter the substrate or the application, there is an acrylic PSA tape formulation that will work for your job.
Rubber tapes: are ideal for bonding a wide variety of substrates, can be cost effective, and can be food grade approved. Generally, rubber-based tapes are not resistant to extreme temperature, chemical, or environmental exposure.
Silicone tapes: ideal for bonding to other silicone surfaces. They also offer the largest range of operating temperatures. They can also be one of the more costly options.
Choosing a Type of PSA Tape for Gasketing Applications
The types of PSA tape used for gaskets include:
Double sided PSA tapes: adhesives coated on both sides of a thin carrier provide dimensional stability and allow for different adhesives to be leveraged if required for the bonding of two different substrates.
Adhesive transfer tapes: also ideal for bonding two different substrates. With a thin layer of pressure sensitive adhesive coated on a removable liner, these tapes allow for the adhesive to be conveniently transferred from the liner to the substrate.
Foam tapes: sometimes double-sided foam tapes can be used in conjunction with other gasketing materials or be used as the sealing gasket. Double-sided polyethene foam tapes or acrylic foam tapes, also known as VHB (very high bonding) tapes from 3M, are double-sided foam tapes that vary in thickness and can both bond and seal. Depending on the foam tape chosen, they can provide considerable bond strength in a variety of extreme applications.