Automotive Polyurethane Adhesive

Transport vehicle manufacturers rely on high-strength adhesives to secure and assemble their products. This includes vehicles like cars, buses and trucks, as well as trailers and trains.

A popular choice is polyurethane adhesive, which has impressive bonding capabilities and can withstand harsh automotive environments. It also boasts excellent physical properties, such as tensile and tear strength and elongation.

Urethanes

Automotive transport vehicles are assembled using numerous parts, panels and structural elements that must be sealed with strong adhesives. While several types of adhesives are used in vehicle assembly, most manufacturers rely on polyurethane-based products. These are a great choice for their excellent strength, durability and weather resistance. They also offer enhanced insulation properties, helping to reduce electrical interference and signal loss.

The versatility of urethanes allows them to be created in a range of colors, thicknesses and formulations to suit particular applications. They are also easy to use, providing good adhesion to most surfaces. These factors, combined with their chemical resistance and automotive polyurethane adhesive ability to resist heat, cold and moisture, make them an ideal choice for transportation industry use.

Urethanes are available in a wide variety of forms, including foams and sprays. They can be made as a one-component product or in multi-component kits. The latter are often packaged in convenient cartridges, 2-gallon tanks or 55-gallon drums for easy handling and storage. They are partially polymerized and stable when exposed to atmospheric moisture, which initiates the curing process. These are a popular choice for spray application and are suitable for most automotive projects.

While a urethane spray may be a good option for some jobs, most professionals prefer to use a one-component product with an auto body automotive polyurethane adhesive gun. These are designed for fast application, and the nozzle tip can be sized to match the specific job size. They can be dispensed to form beads of material that fill gaps and cracks, and they cure quickly to provide a tough rubbery finish that can stand up to high traffic and vibration.

These products can be used in many areas of a vehicle, including bonding and sealing fiberglass, plastics, metals, ceramics, glass and other materials. They can also be applied to the inside of doors to help keep them closed and secured. Many automotive urethanes are low in VOC content and do not require a primer before applying them. They do, however, contain isocyanates and heavy metal catalysts that require special safety precautions during handling and processing.

Compared to silicones, urethanes have superior mechanical strength and adhesion, especially to textured or porous surfaces. They are also less susceptible to brittleness and stress cracking, and they are more flexible and resilient. These qualities make them a great choice for automotive applications where the bond needs to hold up to harsh conditions, such as desert and tropical climates or salt from sea water.

Although epoxies are stronger than urethanes, they require more precise mixing and have a shorter working time. They are also not suitable for use on some metals, which makes urethanes a better choice for many projects. These include bonding plastics to metal or sealing windows and doors. They also offer corrosion resistance, which makes them an excellent choice for outdoor applications such as underbody repairs.