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MOTORINDIA
l
February 2012
111
time.
3M polyurethane & hybrid seal-
ants help make work simpler, yet
faster. Compared to mechanical
fastening techniques, the use of
adhesive- sealant standalone, or in
combination of double coated acryl-
ic tapes, offers many advantages
which are unique in nature and very
much limited to 3M technology:
• 3M Powerline sealant has higher
percentage of solid content to opti-
mize the speed of cure resulting in
better tensile strength and elonga-
tion. The company has developed
sealants with which bubble forma-
tion can be prevented to a great
extent. These sealants have been
chemically modified to optimize the
speed of moisture evaporation and
skinning.
• Combination of 3M VHB tapes
and PU sealants brings down the
‘process idle’ time and increases
productivity by offering 70 per cent
of handling strength within 15 min-
utes, so there is no need to clamp the
panels for hours. This unique com-
bination allows the use of lighter
weight panel materials by equally
distributing stresses over larger ar-
eas, thus helping in cutting the cost
• 3M is the first company to have
its sealant specification evaluated by
ARAI, Pune, for panel bonding ap-
plication.
3M India recently introduced 3M
extreme sealing tape, a product for
roof sealing application. This is a
single-coated,
pressure-sensitive
adhesive tape designed for difficult-
to-seal application. The tape is de-
signed to seal over an existing joint,
seam or penetration.
The advantages of this tape are
multifold. The soft and thick acrylic
adhesive on the tape has excellent
sealing properties. This tape can seal
the joints and leakage instantly. It is
extremely easy and fast to apply. No
curing is required.
The tape has a very high instant
adhesion. It not only ensures zero
leakage from the roof joints, but
also has an excellent UV resist-
ance and is paintable. The tape has
been subjected to accelerated aging
tests, conducted at 3M Weathering
Resource Centre at St. Pauls, Min-
nesota. The tape had 10 pounds per
inch width of peel adhesion, strength
even after over 2,000 hours of accel-
erated aging exposure.
Trailer / fleet owners and bus body
builders face this common problem
of leakage from the joints of the
roof, during monsoon. Unfortunate-
ly, the available solutions are either
temporary or ineffective. However,
since its launch last year, a lot of bus
body builders, OEMs and trailer /
fleet owners have used the 3M tape
advantageously.
3M invites bus body builders,
OEMs and fleet owners to visit its
state-of-the-art R&D Centre in Ban-
galore and experience the innova-
tive solutions the company can offer
for bonding, sealing, masking and
protection applications.
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products & components
3M has also taken the initia-
tive of uplifting the skill sets
by training the operators at
the customer’s place on the new
technologies / solutions free of
cost, on regular basis. This has
instilled confidence in bus body
builders about the status of 3M
as a ‘partner’ to their growth.