Foam Bonding Tapes

Foam bonding tapes are designed for the adhesive joining of foam materials. They use adhesives that are formulated for specific types of foams and substrates. For example, foam bonding tapes with an acrylic adhesive may provide optimal or excellent bonding for urethane foams, but only fair joining performance with ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) foams. Choices for foam compatibility include expanded polyethylene (EPE) foam, expanded polypropylene (EPP) foam, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foams, and polyurethane foam. Foam bonding tapes for specialized or proprietary foams such as SYTROFOAM^® and Neoprene ^® (DuPont), or Mincell^® (Lydall, Inc.) are also available. 

The carrier or backing material for foam bonding tapes is a relatively thin, flexible material to which the adhesive is applied. Choices include acrylic or acrylate, epoxy, felt, fiberglass, fluropolymer, metal foil or sheet, paper, polyester, polyethylene teraphthalate (PET), polycarbonate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), rubber, silicone, and urethane. Foam bonding tapes with polyethylene backing typically use high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW). Proprietary polyimide films such as Kapton^® (DuPont Teijin Films) may also be available. Choices for release or liner material include paper, film, board, fluropolymer, glassine, silicone, and wax. Clay-coated, polycoated, and differentially-coated liners are also available. 

Foam bonding tapes differ in terms of physical properties and thermal properties, as well as dimensional specifications such as length, height and width. Thermal properties for foam bonding tapes include peel strength or adhesion, tensile strength, flexural strength, and elongation. Foam bonding tapes that join dissimilar substrates and meet requirements from the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) or the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) are also available. Thermal properties for foam bonding tapes include temperature resistance, the maximum temperature that products can withstand; as well as thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion (CFE). Thermal conductivity is the linear heat transfer per unit area through a material. CFE is the linear expansion or shrinkage due to a change in temperature. 

In terms of features, foam bonding tapes can be single-sided or double-sided, chemical resistant, cryogenic, dielectric, electrically conductive, laminated, thermally conductive, thermally insulating, or transparent. Transfer tapes are versatile products that consist of a thin adhesive film without a carrier or backing. Foam bonding tapes that control electrostatic discharge (ESD) or provide shielding against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI) are also available. Some foam bonding tapes are permanent, removable repositionable. Others are approved for use by Underwriters Laboratory (UL) or suitable for outdoor use.  

Selecting foam bonding tapes requires an analysis of application requirements. Typically, double coated tapes and transfer adhesive films are used. When this is the case, a second adhesive that provides optimal bonding to a dissimilar substrate can be selected. If the transfer adhesive or tape is designed to bond a foam part to a second dissimilar substrate (metal, plastic, glass, etc.), then the transfer adhesive should have good bonding characteristics with the second substrate. Applications for foam bonding tapes include aerospace, automotive, building and construction, biotech and pharmaceutical, cable, electrical and electronics, packaging, plumbing, printing, and splicing. Foam bonding tapes can also be used with muntin bonding and other glazing applications.

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