Measure the physical properties of adhesives and adhesive tapes

The measurement of mechanical properties in adhesives and adhesive tapes represents a pivotal scientific pursuit, particularly vital within industries such as pharmaceuticals, food, medical, and packaging.

Adhesiveness, often synonymous with 'stickiness' or 'tackiness' in consumer perception, stands as a linchpin in determining the quality, performance, and effectiveness of various products like sealing tapes, curing glues, resins, waxes, adhesive plasters, and labels. Multiple factors, including temperature, moisture levels, and repeated usage, can significantly influence adhesion.

Manufacturers, aiming to align adhesive performance with functional and consumer requirements, rely on precise measurements to identify the optimal adhesive composition. The adoption of a measurement principle is essential for monitoring adhesive properties during development and quality control stages, enabling the discernment of subtle distinctions between different formulas, materials, chemical ingredients, and manufacturing processes.

These measurements facilitate batch conformity verification, comparisons of consistency between batches, shifts, and different manufacturing facilities, and are aided by the versatility of a Texture Analyser, which offers the means to assess a multitude of physical properties in various ways.

Texture Analysers can provide key insights into the physical properties of adhesives. Here's how they can be applied:

• Optimised formulations: With regular feedback from mechanical property testing, researchers can continually refine adhesive formulations, leading to improved products over time.
• Tack assessment: Tack, or the initial adhesion strength, is a crucial characteristic of adhesives. A Texture Analyser can provide quantitative data on the tackiness, enabling adjustments in formulations to achieve the desired tack level.
• Peel strength evaluation: Especially vital for adhesive tapes, measuring peel strength determines the force needed to detach the tape from various substrates. It ensures consistency and the adhesive's suitability for intended applications.
• Cohesive strength analysis: Assessing the inherent strength of the adhesive, this measurement provides insights into the adhesive's ability to maintain its integrity under force.
• Compatibility testing: By testing the adhesive's performance on diverse materials, manufacturers can predict and specify which substrates the adhesive is best suited for.
• Resistance to external factors: Assessing how chemicals, solvents, or environmental factors affect adhesive properties ensures robust and durable adhesive formulations.
• Temperature dependence: A Texture Analyser can assess how the adhesive's mechanical properties change with temperature, guiding usage specifications and storage recommendations.
• Claims verification: To ensure truth in advertising, any mechanical property claims made about the adhesive can be validated using empirical data from the Texture Analyser.
• Quality control: Regular and consistent measurements can act as a quality check, ensuring each batch meets the defined mechanical property standards.
• Environmental and aging effects: Understanding how aging or exposure to specific environmental conditions affects the adhesive's mechanical properties can help in determining shelf life and performance guarantees.
• Feedback integration: By comparing the measured mechanical properties with user feedback, manufacturers can develop products that align closely with consumer needs and industry requirements.

In essence, the use of a Texture Analyser in the adhesives and adhesive tapes sector ensures the production of high-quality, reliable, and application-specific products. It acts as a bridge between theoretical formulation and practical application, guaranteeing that the adhesive products are fit for purpose and perform as expected.

A Texture Analyser can evaluate a variety of mechanical properties for adhesives and adhesive tapes such as:

Accurate measurement of these properties helps manufacturers optimise formulations, ensure consistent product quality, and make informed choices about which adhesives are best suited for specific applications.

Whether its providing the solution for TESA to measure the tack force of their tapes, allowing Samsung to measure the elongation of their electronic device adhesive films or offering a method for Korea University to develop an insect-proof starch adhesive for paper box adhesion, a Texture Analyser is adaptable and flexible in its application to measure the bespoke mechanical properties of your product and then enable its quality to be controlled in your manufacturing to guarantee consistency and customer satisfaction.

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A wide range of probes and attachments can be integrated with our instruments, allowing testing to be precisely adapted to the material or product under evaluation. Applications include the Tape Unwinding Rig used to compare adhesive tape removal from the roll, loop tests to assess adhesive tape tack or adhesive tests employing a ball probe to measure a range of tape adhesive properties. 

Over the years, we have collaborated with leading scientists and organisations across diverse industries to design and refine attachments that meet highly specific testing requirements. When a suitable solution does not already exist, we develop one – expanding our portfolio of Community Registered Designs and reinforcing our commitment to innovation in solving complex testing challenges.

The examples provided illustrate a selection of specialised attachments and commonly performed measurements within this application area. This list is not exhaustive; a wide range of additional options are available for the testing of adhesive products. All instruments in the Texture Analyser range can be used to perform the tests described.

Exponent Connect software includes a comprehensive range of test methods for adhesives and adhesive tapes (including ASTM, ISO, FINAT, AFERA and PSTC Standards) to provide detailed analysis of the compressive and tensile stress-strain behaviour of the adhesive product. These are all instantly accessible at the click of a button. We streamline your physical testing process, ensuring faster access to methods and ready-to-use analysis files for your product properties.

Adhesives play a pivotal role in various industries, including construction, automotive, packaging, and electronics. Research and development in this field often focus on improving performance characteristics, environmental sustainability, and safety. Here are some of the newer ingredient and product ideas in adhesive research, development, and production and a typical academic reference to show how the Texture Analyser has already being applied: