Enable Lightweight Design

What does lightweighting involve and which industries are incorporating it into design?

What does it involve?

Change of design and materials with lighter-weight options such as:

• Polyolefins (polypropylenes)

• Syntactic foams

• Thermoplastic composites

• Composites

Industry Applications

• Automotive

• Aerospace

• Sporting Goods

• Transportation

• Marine

• Industrial Products

Bonding Challenges of Lightweighting

Mechanical attachments, such as clips or screws, can be used with virtually any surface, but they require time-consuming steps to mold or create features for the attachment. This also can lead to stress concentrations and result in plastic cracking, premature failures, reduced strength in composites (due to matrix discontinuities caused by drilling of holes), increased weight and a less aesthetic finish.

Heat welding requires large amounts of heat – and can only bond the same materials, such as polypropylene-to-polypropylene.

Enable lightweight design with Adhesives and Tapes

"Adhesive bonding is an enabling technology that can give designers and engineers the ability to choose different, lighter materials and combine them in new and innovative ways to assist and create light-weight assemblies."

Dr. Antonio Pagliuca, 3M Senior Technical Specialist

Today’s adhesives and bonding tapes allow robust bonding of many LSE plastics as well dissimilar materials. This allows manufacturers to save valuable time, reduce stress distribution and incorporate lighter and thinner materials. Designs maintain more flexibility and a clean final bond appearance.

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