How Special Carpet Tapes Can Take Mass Transportation a Decisive Step Further

Airplanes, trains, buses, ships and boats are highly developed vehicles based on a well-designed interaction between almost countless components. But why can it be important for manufacturers and MRO companies to look more closely at flooring applications?

One reason is that flooring solutions are part of the overall safety needs and each component, including carpet tape and adhesives, must fulfill high safety standards, especially regarding fire protection.

But it goes beyond protecting passengers. Protecting structures, for example, from moisture ingress can help increase passenger safety, reduce maintenance efforts, and increase lifetime.

Passengers traditionally trust in existing foundational materials, the focus more often than not is on comfort and the overall travel experience. Flooring solutions and small parts like carpet tape can help improve their experience both through eliminating bubbles and wrinkles by securely fixed flooring without edge lift for safe and comfortable boarding or disembarking, even with luggage.

For the manufacturers and MRO companies, the right flooring solution can reduce maintenance efforts, defects, downtime and therefore costs. In addition, innovative materials can help reduce their environmental footprint. How? We’ll examine how in more detail below but let us look at common challenges and differences in mass transportation flooring applications before we focus on the benefits and added value that new materials provide in solving these challenges.

There are challenges in flooring applications all mass transportation vehicles have in common. In NTF applications like in kitchen, toilet, bathroom or entrance areas, water barriers are needed to protect from moisture ingress and corrosion. The special flooring covers used need to be securely fixed to the panels without gaps or wrinkles.

Across all vehicles, quick installation and secure fixation without wrinkles or bubbles, especially in highly frequented areas and at edges, can be challenging. But when flooring needs to be removed or replaced during maintenance, other challenges occur. Strong bonds can lead to adhesive residue, require tools to remove carpet or NTF which is time consuming and could cause damage to flooring panels or even the need for costly replacements of composite materials.

Once the flooring cover is removed, it can be difficult to separate the components, making reuse or recycling challenging. As companies' goals around sustainability grow, so does the attention on which components are used and how they can be managed at end of life.

But there are also differences between different flooring applications in mass transportation. In trains and buses for example, mainly contact adhesives are used to bond floor covering to the panels. These panels are mostly constructed with cost-efficient plywood, aluminum or FRP (fiberglass-reinforced plastics) whereas in airplanes, composite panels and in most cases special pressure-sensitive adhesive double sided carpet tapes are used to bond firmly but avoid damage of the expensive lightweight composite panels.

All materials used inside mass transportation vehicles must fulfill high standards especially around passenger safety. For aircrafts, there are different specifications and test that our flooring tapes pass. For trains, EN445545-2 approval is the most common specification that must be fulfilled.

In marine vessels, oftentimes thicker carpets are used than would be in other vehicles in order to provide better comfort for passengers. Thicker carpets allow better NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness), dampening and more “luxury feeling” and weight is less important.

Now that we have seen some of the common and varying challenges in flooring applications, how can innovative solutions help overcome and provide significant benefits and added value?

Innovative carpet tapes and NTF solutions have successfully lifted aircraft flooring applications to new levels for many years now. They are now landing to revolutionize flooring applications in other mass transportation areas like trains, buses and marine due to the bundle of advantages they provide over traditional installation methods. Here is why:

1. Installation: Double sided carpet tapes like Biolink® relink 2318 are easier to install than contact adhesives. They can be applied quickly without the requirement of curing time or extensive training, providing immediate fixation. In addition, they allow repositioning of the carpet to avoid wrinkles or bubbles for facilitated and faster installation and better end results.
2. Secure fixation: Once installed, these carpet tapes provide reliable bonds between surface panel and flooring. Even in highly frequented areas like entrances or aisles, their edge protection properties avoid carpet lift for easier and safer movement. By eliminating shrinking or movement, these tapes keep the flooring where it should be.
3. Unparalleled removability: Even though it is easily repositionable during installation and secure fixation during use, when the flooring cover needs to be renewed, it can be easily removed in one piece without tape tear, residue or damage. This streamlines and facilitates maintenance, reduces down-time and minimizes costs as no tools, post-treatments, cleaning or repairs are needed.
4. Safety: relink 2318, for example, meets the highest standards set by the aircraft industry and has been qualified to fulfill all flammability requirements. Other NTF barrier tapes prevent moisture ingress to protect structures and passengers. For trains, EN 445545-2 approval is one standard flooring solutions need to fulfill to ensure reliable passenger protection.
5. Footprint reduction: As lightweight components, flooring tapes are ideal for applications where weight matters. And as they leave no residue and are easy to separate, they facilitate recycling or reuse of flooring components, resulting in less cleaning, less waste and effort.

Even though they are mostly unseen and the focus in modern transportation is on other areas of the vehicles, flooring tapes can be considered as the hidden gems to increase performance, save time, effort and money in trains, buses, airplanes and marine vessels. Thinking creatively as we design future solutions, it's worth looking under the carpet. If you too want to make amazing discoveries under the surface, and benefit from the advantages of modern carpet tapes, find out which tape innovation is best for you.