Your Guide to the Newest Products for Automotive Applications
When it comes to automotive assembly, high-performing and reliable attachment technology is a must, especially when several components such as emblems, nameplates, wheel weights or body side moldings need to be attached to the vehicle's exterior.
Saint-Gobain® Norbond® Attachment Tapes are made of elastomeric foam core and a durable pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive; they are specially designed for durable, long-lasting adhesion and unparalleled resistance to a range of environmental conditions.
Whether it is enhancing structural integrity, streamlining assembly processes, or ensuring a lasting bond, Norbond Tapes stand up to the evolving demands of modern automotive applications.
Due to popular demand and customer requests, we’ve expanded our portfolio of products to ensure unmatched performance for the future of automotive assembly. And, because staying abreast of the latest innovations can be daunting, we’ve curated a succinct guide — a summary sheet — of the newest tape products for challenging automotive and transportation applications.
We’re putting a spotlight on Norbond Z3000/Z3100, Norbond F500, and the newest product Norseal® AST.
Norbond Z3000/Z3100 Series can provide OEMs and Tiers with a solution to many common manufacturing concerns — speed and throughput, improved health and safety aspects, and cost-effective, durable production parts. Launched in Q4 of 2023, these tapes have been a key player in applications such as body side molding, wheel flares, spoilers and rocker panels. Norbond Z3000 is available in Europe, while Norbond Z3100 is available in the Americas.
But what is special about it?
These tapes are designed for superior attachment of Low Surface Energy Substrates (LSE) to OEM clear coats. They meet challenging specifications such as GMW15201 or VWTL52018E and combine all the advantages of primerless bonding into one powerful adhesive tape!
These tapes have been a game changer because they do not require pre-treatment of surfaces with adhesion promoters, saving both time and money.
Eliminating the need for primers allows for process simplification and reduces solvent usage, which is better for health, safety, and the environment. Both Z3000/Z3100 have excellent adhesion to PP-EPDM, automotive paint systems or MSE plastics like ABS or ASA. They have superior peel strength with enhanced short-term adhesion build, they have high resistance to humidity, reliable holding power at temperatures up to 80°C and great resistance to any aging conditions.
One of the biggest challenges design engineers seek to meet is finding quality bonding solutions that can withstand different design complexities and maintain strong adhesion performance on modern-day paint systems, especially on today’s clear coat paint finishes. Design engineers are tasked with finding the right materials that meet challenging OEM specifications such as Ford Spec WSS-M11P65-A.
Norbond F500 combines a durable black closed-cell polyurethane foam with a high-performance acrylic adhesive system. F500 has durability, long service life and weathering resistance that allows for the permanent attachment of exterior automotive nameplates, emblems and badges. It has been extensively tested and validated to meet OEM specifications such as those of Ford Motor Company. F500 has the peel, shear and tensile adhesion capability required to meet the stress of these applications.
F500 can eliminate contact between dissimilar materials to prevent corrosion, minimize distortion with stress distribution that reduces pressure points, and provide a strong-long lasting durable bond. It is a high-performing, conformable closed-cell polyurethane foam that facilitates die cutting with a standard polyethylene liner that excels in automated production processes.
For difficult applications such as sealing different textures or part geometries, adhesion to raw or painted metals, or delivering instant sealing, design engineers seek aggressive acrylic adhesives that can stand up to the challenge. For these specific needs, we’d like to draw your attention to Norseal AST Foam.
This is a high performance modified acrylic tape that has permanent ionomeric film designed to overlap seams or joints in various applications such as truck/trailer sealing. The permanent ionomeric film on AST provides an environmentally stable, paintable surface. Due to its properties, it allows for durable and long-term performance. After being applied over a seam, AST has the capability to provide instant sealing. Its conformable acrylic core allows the tape to conform and seal different textures including metals.
Norseal AST and other Norseal Sealing Foams are specially designed to seal against water, dirt and air. With aggressive adhesive, there are no special tools needed for application and no curing is required. Application is quick, efficient and accurate.
Selecting the right product for your automotive bonding and sealing needs depends on each specific application.
Body side molding applications may require tapes that are both flexible and have good peel resistance. An acrylic tape like Z3000/3100 will work particularly well in this application due to its excellent peel adhesion to automotive paint systems as well as its ability to withstand high stress conditions.
Emblem or nameplate applications require materials that could be die-cut, have good conformability, meet aesthetic requirements and provide good shear and tensile adhesion for stress resistance. Polyurethane foam tapes such as F500 will work well because they possess all these required characteristics.
Finally, applications that require sealing against environmental elements need aggressive adhesion, durable, and long-term performance even in the most challenging conditions. Norseal Sealing Foams like AST are a go-to in this type of application.
When in doubt, our team is ready and eager to review your specific application requirements and help you select a product to best suit your needs, or even co-develop something entirely new!