Tool Protection & Seaming Tapes for Composite Molding
The enormous forces and temperatures during composite molding processes put high stress on molds, parts and materials. To protect expensive molds and tools and to extend their lifetime is a key effort to extend replacement cycles and cut manufacturing costs. Saint-Gobain® tool protection and seaming tapes consist of extruded, high modulus and skived tapes that protect from wear and ensure defect-free part surfaces. They are designed to act as a release surface for composite materials, can easily be applied to complex geometries without wrinkles and without the tape lifting prematurely due to their excellent conformability. The combination of non-stick surface, high mechanical and temperature resistance as well as clean release properties leaving no residue make them the ideal choice to extend the life of mold release tapes and protect the tool surface.
Extruded PTFE tapes
CHR® Tapes manufactured from extruded, oriented, high modulus PTFE film coated with high-temperature pressure sensitive adhesive come with bright color, making the tape easy to find on composite parts and tooling. Their unique properties and optics facilitate manufacturing processes especially with large parts like airplane wings and wind turbine blades.
High modulus PTFE tapes
Silicone and non-silicone CHR High Modulus PTFE Tapes are used at the edges of molds and to cover seams between release layers to give the mold release tape longer life. PTFE film tapes offer a smoother surface and a thicker PTFE layer which can give longer life compared with PTFE glass cloth tapes.
FEP and ETFE tapes
CHR FEP and ETFE Tapes are conformable, stretchy tapes that are used for masking the corners of the tool. Different tape designs are optimized for matte surface finish or for extra smoothness.
Tool Protection and Seaming Tape Material Selection Guide
| Adhesive | .002 in (.050 mm) | .003 in (.075 mm) | Short Term Temp. Rating (1–5 hours) °F (°C) | Product Features |
| Silicone | 2285, 2296, 2275 |
– | 600°F (310°C) | Bright colors: 2285-2 orange, 2296-2 yellow, 2275-2 dark orange |
| Adhesive | .002 in (.050 mm) | .003 in (.075 mm) | Short Term Temp. Rating (1–5 hours) °F (°C) | Product Features |
| Rubber | 2250-2 | – | 400°F (200°C) | Non-silicone, clean removal |
| Silicone | 2255-2 | – | 600°F (310°C) | Dimensionally stable, low twisting and curling |
| Adhesive | .002 in (.050 mm) | .003 in (.075 mm) | Short Term Temp. Rating (1–5 hours) °F (°C) | Product Features |
| Silicone | – | 2045-3 | 600°F (310°C) | Widest available product in the market at 48 inch (1219 mm) width |
| Adhesive | .002 in (.050 mm) | .003 in (.075 mm) | Short Term Temp. Rating (1–5 hours) °F (°C) | Product Features |
| Silicone | 2355, 2455 |
– | 400°F (200°C) | High conformability |
