Adhesives put to the test

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 9, 2003

Anyone wishing to test the bond strength of adhesives will benefit from the latest LR, Plus and EZ testing machines from Lloyd Instruments.

Anyone wishing to test the bond strength of adhesives will benefit from the latest LR, Plus and EZ testing machines from Lloyd Instruments.

Designed to test adhesives, and other industry products, from initial design to end phases, these advanced universal testing machines are designed to increase productivity, accuracy and reliability whether used in manufacturing or the laboratory.

The Lloyd Instruments universal test equipment range covers forces up to 300kN.

The company's powerful Nexygen MT control software has a vast test library for international manufacturing standards compliance.

New features include strict multilevel user security and audit trails for complete traceability of data, video capture and playback, and extended instrument interfaces.

Typical adhesives testing includes tension, compression and peel tests (for example 90 and 180-degree peel adhesion), release force tests, loop tack measurements and dynamic shear.

By fitting environment chambers, it is possible to test adhesives under simulated real life conditions.

One UK adhesive manufacturer is using a 5kN Lloyd Instruments test machine, with an environment chamber attached, to test the peel strength of latex based adhesives in self seal envelopes and the bond strength of adhesive drum labels for use cold climates.

Other tests include checking the 'crush' resistance of cardboard tubes (used in cling film, kitchen foil and paper towels packaging) to determine adhesives levels for tube construction.

According to a company spokesman, the setup has already improved production efficiency and generates detailed data for comprehensive reporting.

Other adhesive industry applications include testing the fatigue properties of structural adhesives in tensile shear (BS EN ISO9665:1995), adhesives for leather and footwear (BS EN522:1998), adhesives for tiles (BS EN12003:1998), the unwinding forces of self adhesive tapes (BS EN12026:1997), peel tests for flexible bonded to rigid samples (BS EN28510-1 to 2:1993) and 90 and 180-degree peel strength tests on credit card laminates (ISO/IEC10373).