What is duct tape?
Adhesive tape (also known as self-adhesive tape, PSA tape, self-adhesive tape, or duct tape) consists of a pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to a substrate such as paper, plastic tape, fabric, or metal. foil .
Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (PSA) do not require activation with water, solvents or heat to adhere to materials such as paper, plastic, glass, wood, cement and metal.
A brief history of the tape
In modern times, before adhesive tapes, adhesives and epoxies did most of the bonding work. Dirt, durability and drying to complete destruction made classic adhesives far from ideal.
According to how it works:
“Masking tape, as you know, was designed to solve a very specific problem: applying two-tone paint to cars. Before applying painter’s tape, auto shops “camouflaged” each color application with glue and paper.
Today’s tape comes in all shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of tack, and for nearly 45 years ECHOtape has been helping our customers meet their unique needs with pressure sensitive tape – the perfect pressure.
How is duct tape made?
We could tell you how duct tape is made, but this video from The Science Channel is much more interesting:
In addition, this video clip is also a great example of how tape is used for splicing.
Why does the tape stick?
Each type of tape has its pros and cons, be it rubber/resin, synthetic rubber, acrylic or silicone-based adhesive.
Rubber/resin is the oldest type of natural rubber tackifier, but requires resin to make it tacky.
It has a high initial adhesion unlike acrylic which takes time to cure.
Gives much greater cohesion and shear strength than natural rubber based adhesives; as a result, it seals bags and cartons quite well.
Acrylic Adhesives Most of the disadvantages of rubber/resin based adhesives are overcome with a single element pressure sensitive tackifier based on “acrylic” chemistry. Acrylic is colorless and resistant to oxidation and UV. The balance of oxidation can give acrylic adhesive tape several years of UV protection.
Silicone adhesives and sealants have a high level of flexibility and are resistant to high temperatures.
Chemistry
Ordinary duct tape will not stick to waxed, Teflon or silicone areas and will even have difficulty sticking to polyethylene. Tape with adequate tack will help, as well as tapes with a natural rubber tackifier, but you may need to use a tape specifically designed for your particular area.
How to test the feed
Ideally, we have the ability to do both, like in the Durability Lab, but the bottom line is that real-world testing is the most important thing.
So here we will introduce you to the most common tape changers we use in ECHOtape.
Know your substrate
One of the most important parts of our own application testing is testing the tape on real media, where real applications come into play.
The tape may work on one substrate and not work on others. Sometimes the tape will work on the substrate, however, as soon as you change the chemical composition or condition of the substrate, the tape may fail.
We first test the adhesive tape by hand on the substrate (paper, cardboard, flexo materials) and then see if it pulls on the fibres.
Permanent or temporary adhesion?
Whoever you want can influence how you test your feed.
With regards to temporary bonding, we want to find out if the tape adheres quickly and peels cleanly… a critical field test after evaluating a protective tape or plaster tape. For this reason, it is very important that our own customers understand that testing tape in the field takes time. If your problem is that the plaster tape doesn’t hold up to 90°F and 100% humidity, it’s useless for us to test it in the fall when it’s at 60°F and 20% humidity.
The tape constantly requires curing to evaluate performance, such as acrylic adhesives that take 72 hours to cure.
Does the tape slip?
If he delaminates, he assumes that the tape is stronger than the backing, and one day he is looking for something that requires extreme alliance strength.
Ultraviolet (UV) exposure and aging
With prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light, some chemical materials, such as natural and some synthetic rubbers, as well as polyethylene, have the ability to experience negative changes in their characteristics; because of which they become hard and brittle.
For outdoor use, sticky natural or synthetic rubber tapes are best avoided. Unless the tackifier has been specially treated with UV stabilizers or there is no UV protection on the substrate, such as premium outdoor stucco tape.
Temperature extremes
We’re leaders in cold weather treadmills for a good reason: our own headquarters in Canada is the epicenter for cold weather operations.
