A structural epoxy adhesive is supporting the fast assembly of durable glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) sandwich-construction wall systems at Norway's Marine Composites AS. The self-supporting walls are used in the manufacture of hygienic hospitals and buildings used by the food-processing, electronic and pharmaceutical industries. The Araldite 2015 epoxy, supplied by the Adhesives & Tooling Division of Vantico, Duxford, England, was selected for the project because of its ease of handling and performance characteristics, including the ability to produce resilient bond lines that can withstand exposure to corrosive marine environments as well as temperature extremes.

According to Jon Inge Brattekas, managing director of Marine Composites AS, "We chose Araldite 2015 for its particularly good adhesion to GRP and because of its gap-filling capacity. Also, many locations in Norway are exposed to the elements, and Araldite 2015 has a very high resistance to seawater and can withstand ambient temperatures, which can vary between -40degF (-40degC) and 95degF (35degC)."

Marine Composites AS wall systems comprise individual modules of various sizes that are assembled like LEGO toy blocks to form buildings. Technicians begin each wall section by degreasing and lightly abrading surfaces to be bonded.

Next, Araldite 2015 resin and hardener are mixed and applied to the pretreated area in a 0.002- to 0.004-inch (0.05- to 0.10-mm) thick layer. This thickness imparts the greatest lap shear strength to lap joints used in the wall assembly.

Components are then clamped together and placed in an oven for 50 minutes at 140degF (60degC) until fully cured. Vantico's Araldite 2015 adhesive facilitates the bonding process because it resists sagging up to a 0.4-inch (10-mm) thickness.

The Adhesives & Tooling Division of Vantico is a world leader in high-performance epoxy and polyurethane adhesives, pastes and laminating systems, as well as lightweight syntactics used for bonding and assembling aerospace, automotive and general industrial components.

For more information about Araldite 2015 epoxy adhesive, contact Maria Pate, Vantico Inc., 5121 San Fernando Rd. West, Los Angeles, CA 90039; call 818-265-7210; fax 818-247-6616; or e-mail maria.pate@vantico.com. Circle No. 68