Increasing alternatives to mechanical fastening are available.
With ongoing advances in structural adhesive formulation, designers in every industry have increasing alternatives to mechanical fasteners for assembly of metal, composites, plastics, rubber, glass and more. With a wide choice of epoxies, acrylics and urethanes, engineers have the high cohesive strength and creep resistance to permanently bond high strength materials and potentially replace mechanical fastening in applications ranging from bicycle frames and disk drives to plastic fencing and refrigeration coils.
Beyond having load-bearing strength, structural adhesives offer other styling, performance and production improvements, including the following: