A weld is essentially a localized heating process that fuses metal together when they have similar melting points. The quality of a weld can vary, as it takes quite a bit of skill to perform. Plexus structural adhesives are considered as a superior metal glue alternative to welding. If a welded joint is on thin metals or requires post processing such as grinding, both the weld and the grinding often cause distortion or scaring. In these situations, Plexus structural adhesives are used to eliminate such problems.
Weaknesses of Welding Assemblies:
Laying down a bead of glue and putting two products together is considerably easier than creating consistent manual welds. Plexus adhesives are easy to use, forgiving to off ratio mixing, bond through light metal oil and can eliminate grinding and/or sealing downstream. Here is an example of how Plexus can be used as a weld glue replacement.
Plexus structural adhesives allow for gluing metal without excess heat that leads to print through. There is a large benefit when using Plexus adhesives to join metals of different gauge thickness; Plexus will not cause any warping, which saves considerable time downstream to maintain.
Not only does Plexus bond and seal, but it provides a non-conductive layer between metals. This helps eliminate potential corrosion. Welding galvanized or Galvanneal metals will destroy the protective layer, leading to higher risk of rust and corrosion and warranty claims. Plexus has a range of products that are primer-less to galvanized and that can bond metals as is. Contact our technical service team to learn more about the Plexus range.
Thinking about switching from welding to adhesives? Here are some key questions to help identify if an application is right for Plexus metal bonding adhesives:
Contact us to learn more about which Plexus adhesive is most suitable for your project.
Plexus adhesives are engineered to not only be thixotropic (non-sag), but also to spread very easily. Best practice is to ensure even clamp pressure across the bondline, sufficient to prevent joint separation until a defined handling strength is achieved.
Here are some tips for clamping:
Plexus adhesives are engineered to be very robust with minimal to no surface preparation.
Testing the exact material is important to any successful project. Contact us to learn more about Plexus adhesives that can best address your project needs.
With the right design, using Plexus adhesives to bond metal can help outperform welding. An adhesive is not always a direct replacement for a weld, and design considerations should be taken into account.
Below are some common examples of how to modify a welded joint into and adhesive bonding joint design:
Want to switch from mechanical fasteners or welding to a strong metal glue?