In many cases, the use of pressure sensitive and HATS adhesives can eliminate mechanical fastening systems (staples, nails or retaining clips), and the inherent problems associated with them, such as cost, weight, and breakage. PSA and HATS frequently improve productivity during the final assembly process by providing a faster, more efficient way of attaching seals and gaskets to the end product.

To begin the adhesive selection process, it is important to have the answers for several basic questions:
1. To what type of substrate will the adhesive be attached?
2. In what temperature range will the adhesive be expected to perform, and with what chemicals will it come into contact?
3. Will the adhesive come into contact with moisture or sunlight?
4. Will the adhesive be functional after installation?

Double coated paper and film tapes, and heat bonded tape systems each offers specific benefits depending upon the surfaces to be joined, the strength of the bond required, and environmental factors such as temperature and chemical resistance.

H2 – Acrylic, H3 – Rubber-Based

HAT - Neoprene Profiles
St - EPDM Profiles

Rubber Based Adhesives – H3
Rubber based adhesives are very thermoplastic. The addition of heat will soften the adhesive and directly affect its function. These types of adhesives have a high initial bond to the substrate. This is unlike acrylics, which can take 48 to 72 hours to achieve their ultimate strength.

o Advantages: The key advantages to rubber adhesives are that they will adhere to a wide range of materials and they have a high initial "grab," or tack.

o Disadvantages: Some of the key disadvantages include poor resistance to elevated temperatures, fair to poor resistance to chemicals, and generally poor resistance to ultra violet light and oxidation.

Acrylic Based Adhesive – H2
Acrylic adhesives are polar in nature, and tend to stick well to polar substrates such as metals, glass, polyesters, polycarbonates and neoprenes. Conversely, acrylics do not bond well to non-polar surfaces such as polyethylene, polypropylene (olefins), EPDMs and silicones.
Acrylics are thermoplastics by nature; they soften when exposed to heat and harden when cooled. They are inherently soft at ambient temperatures. Being soft at room temperature permits them to flow under light pressure and make good intimate contact with the substrate. This ability to flow is very important when bonding to an irregular or rough surface.
Acrylics age very well in the presence of ozone, ultraviolet light and corona due to the saturation in the polymer backbone.
o Advantages: Acrylic adhesives are cross-linkable and deliver good resistance to varying temperature ranges, chemicals, ultraviolet light and oxidation. They are very color stable and can be easily removed and reinstalled in the application if done incorrectly.
o Disadvantages: Generally, acrylic based PSAs have poor adhesion to polyolefins. The initial bond or tack strength of acrylic adhesive is low.

HATS/ST Adhesive
The heat bonded adhesives are medium density, heat activated acrylic foam tapes used to attach weather-strip to a wide range of substrates.

The heat activated adhesives are characterized by high adhesion and holding strength, and form durable, long lasting bonds on most substrate surfaces. They feature an instant adhesion and provide a continuous seal against moisture, dirt, and noise intrusion.

These tapes are thermally bonded to the extruded profile using specially-designed heat laminating equipment. When properly applied, a permanent bond between the tape and the surface of the extrusion is obtained, resulting in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) attachable profile that can be bonded to a large variety of surface materials.

% of Bond Strength	Elapsed Time
50 65 90 100	20 minutes 1 hour 24 hours 72 hours

Gaskets utilizing these tapes provide excellent performance at both high and low temperature conditions. The tapes are high performance formulations designed to meet a variety of requirements including holding power, ultraviolet light stability, moisture resistance, salt spray resistance and more.