Replacing Welded Joints Without Compromising Quality, Strength or Durability
Finding trained welders is becoming increasingly difficult, Sikas epoxy adhesive solutions will help you streamline your processes, so your welders can focus on the critical jobs. Our heat- and room temperature curing SikaPower® adhesives allow you to reduce or replace welded joints without compromising quality, strength or durability.
With Sika’s metal to metal adhesives you are able to make better and more efficient use of your scarce welding resources. Incorporating structural adhesives in your weld shop provides you the opportunity to further improve your processes by reducing weld- and post-treatment (e.g., grinding, polishing) work and improve the durability of assembled parts.
SikaPower® structural adhesive solutions for bonding metals to metals enable producers of commercial vehicles to either partially substitute or complement welding. Bonded joints increase productivity and prolong the service life of your assembled parts. Sika’s global network of experts supports your engineers from the initial design phase to final industrialization. SikaPower® epoxy adhesives create new value propositions for you and therefore strengthen your sales position at your customers.
"Sika’s innovative metal to metal adhesives combined with a full set of material data for CAE / FEM calculation, enable the transportation industry to optimize their weld shop, realize process cost savings and achieve higher quality standards."
Sika’s global expertise, combined with the local technical service, provides commercial vehicle manufacturers optimal solutions for individual challenges.
Sika is your Strategic Partner for Process Improvements in the Weld-Shop
We understand what it takes for you to manufacture high quality products at the most profitable cost ratio. Sika’s leading competence in the automotive and commercial vehicle industry combined with our global network of experts will help you integrate our SikaPower® metal epoxy adhesives in your weld-shop smoothly. With our lead and your determination, your assembly processes will become more efficient at a lower total cost. Our structural metal to metal adhesives are compatible with all your requirements, no matter the coating process following the weld-shop. Get in touch with us to learn which SikaPower® adhesives are best suited for either powder-coating or e-coating processes.
Combine Metal Adhesives and Mechanical Fasteners/Welding to Eliminate Common Quality Issues in Your Weld-Shop
Hybrid joining techniques, whereby metal epoxy adhesives are combined with either mechanical fasteners or welding, provide you with the best of both worlds. While mechanical fixtures ensure precise and efficient processing, SikaPower® metal adhesives provide a significant improvement to overall structural integrity of your products. The combined use of mechanical fasteners and (spot)-welds for the initial fixation together with SikaPower® metal adhesives provide only benefits:
Sika’s material cards and technical support on individual projects help you determine the best use of adhesives to join different metals or other materials. Rely on Sika and SikaPower® - the strongest epoxy adhesive for metal - starting from the concept phase until production, anywhere in the world.
Sika Weld Shop Adhesive Solutions Help You Develop Light-Weight Structures
In fact, the drivers for the ever-increasing use of metal adhesives in weld-shops are the use of new, lighter, and stronger materials, overall weight reduction requirements and the shortage of qualified welders. Many vehicle producers started replacing steel panels with composite materials a long time ago.
Also, can you weld aluminum to steel easily today? Our metal to metal adhesives provide you with endless material combination possibilities you have never thought about before.
Sika offers an extensive portfolio of adhesive solutions to join metals with metals or other materials. From 1-component heat-curing epoxy adhesives to two-component structural adhesives based on acrylates, epoxy and polyurethane, Sika can provide you with the ideal solution to your challenge.
For production environments that include electrocoating (e-coat) or powder coating processes, heat-curing SikaPower® metal adhesives are best. SikaPower® epoxies contain glass spheres to keep the required bond line distance between two metal sheets and to control the gaps. Thus, creating an excellent metal to metal bond strength. They also provide an excellent wash-out resistivity and superior corrosion protection performance. Our SikaPower® adhesives are the strongest epoxy for metal to metal and are all based on the SmartCore Technology, providing exceptional fatigue resistance to support your products a little longer than you would usually experience.
Selected room-temperature curing SikaPower® metal epoxy adhesives include Sika’s patented Smartcore technology. These adhesives are designed to withstand high impact energies and elevated dynamic load cycles, making them the ideal solution when strong and durable bonds are required. Warming the component with the adhesive accelerates the curing of two-component SikaPower® adhesives.
SikaFast® acrylic adhesive systems are a low odor, fast-curing, structural but flexible adhesives for the replacement of mechanical fixtures such as rivets, screws or welded joints. SikaFast® acrylic technology combines fast strength development with minimal surface preparation for a wide range of bonding surfaces.
Within the SikaForce® range of adhesive solutions; Sika provides specific solutions for bonding a variety of substrates in insulated and dry freight trailer bodies, such as panel joints, profile elements, and reinforcements. These cost-effective solutions are made for extensive area bonding and combine good non-sag and gap filling properties. Our SikaForce® Powerflex adhesives combine high structural strength with permanent elasticity throughout the entire service temperature range.