New adhesives from manufacturer Plexus offers an alternative to welding that could save manufacturers rework and surface imperfections. Plexus says that their Plexus MA8110 and MA8120 adhesives are purpose-designed to bond a wide variety of metal substrates, including dissimilar metals, to replace the need to weld. It’s particularly helpful when bonding thin metal components or sheeting that would easily be subject to warping or burn-through during regular welding.
According to Plexus, its product saves its clients time and money while producing a clean aesthetic to boost final quality. The adhesives offer one-step bonding, tolerate a wide range of temperatures, endure cycle fatigue and demonstrate high impact resistance. Both adhesives bond aluminum, cold rolled steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel and chromate steel, but Plexus M81200 allows for elongation of 45 to 65 percent compared to the 10 to 20 percent elongation of MA81100. The cure time and working life of M81200 are also somewhat longer.