Adhesives in the Automotive Industry

Trending in the Automotive Industry is the swap from mechanical fastenings to using adhesives. Here are 7 reasons why:

1) Adhesives are good for bonding dissimilar parts. Traditionally, mechanical fasteners such as bolts, rivets, screws, and welds were used to connect parts in car manufacturing.[4] But all these mechanical fasteners pose a challenge when trying to connect items of different materials; like metal to glass or plastic to steel.[1]

From an engineering standpoint, it is difficult to drill holes in metals, plastics, and glass. In addition, dissimilar parts expand at different rates due to heat and pressure.[2] This causes stress on the bond and warping to the materials which could lead to problems and possible failure of the parts.[2]

https://brandywinenozzles.com/

Text only test - does it show on FB?

Test of video posting directed to Facebook. This video is an overview of the 'adhesives universe'.

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End of Test

Just a short note - our company will be moving to a new facility in about 6 weeks - details to be forthcoming shortly. The new facility is located in one of those classic mill buildings that dot the landscape in New England. You can spot many mills along or near the banks of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts. The first advanced textilemill, located in Lowell MA, signalled the coming of the industrial revolution to the America.

The new location will double the size of our warehouse, and allow for expansion to accomodate the rapid growth of the company. We look forward to continue providing our great customer service and helping customers solve technical problems related to adhesive applications. We'll continue selling both Sulzer Mixpac and Nordson static mixers, cartridges and dispensing guns, as well as accessories. 

This undated image shows the inside of one of the manufacturing departments in Arlington Mills, Lowell MA. 

Thank you loyal, and new customers!  The first person to email us from this page will receive a free epoxy evaluation kit which will allow you test your own adhesive. The kit consists of a 50 ml dispensing gun, two empty 50 ml cartridges and 4 static mixers (2 each of 2 different styles). Send your email to blog_expoy_kit@brandywine.tc

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Nordson Stainless Steel In-Line Mixer Applications – Water Treatment   

There are three series of Nordson stainless mixers; Series 70, Series 85 and Series 100. (Details are found at this website - https://brandywinenozzles.com/ ) Key variables are number of mixing elements, inner diameter (ID) and length. Products are available with the following range of parameters:

• Number of elements 6 to 32
• ID ¼ inch to 2 inch
• Length 4 inch to 28 inch (approximate)

Stainless Steel mixers are used in diverse applications, in many industries. Some examples are:

• pH control of processes
• Chlorination of drinking water
• Chemical mixing in process industries
• Diluting juice concentrates
• Bleaching (paper industry)

This blog will focus on applications in water treatment, which can be done on a small scale or large scale as would be typical for a municipal waste water treatment plant.

Inline mixers are used to mix a “chlorine-source” into the wastewater stream to serve as a disinfectant. Another use would be to facilitate addition of sodium carbonate into the stream for pH adjustment. Ozone, another disinfectant, could also be added using an inline mixer. Yet another use is the introduction of coagulants and flocculants. These materials interact with impurities in the water to form a semi-solid material which is then removed via filtration.

Frequently, customers ask us – “Why Brandywine Materials”?

When the business was started in 2002,  a seemingly trivial task – what to name the business – took up more time than expected. I tried out various generic industrial business type names – Mixerco, Mixingstuffco, AdhesivesApplicationEquipment Co, DispenseGlueCo. etc.

However, I thought of our businesses as more than the run-of-the-mill equipment distributor and wanted a name that stood out. My passion for history led me to the company name. There was a Revolutionary War battle fought at “Brandywine Creek" in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Bdarandywine had a nice “ring” to it, hence the business name. The name is flexible for future business direction – it does not peg us to a specific industry or market. (We get inquiries on occasion about our wine products!)

I probably should not mention this - General Washington lost the Battle of Brandywine Creek which led to the capture of Philadelphia by the British under General Howe.

This website will continue to incorporate updated and new product information. Please visit frequently!

Collapsible Film-Pak® cartridges provide a sustainable, eco-friendly option for packaging and dispensing two-component fluids such as industrial adhesives and sealants.

Please watch this video to learn about this product - is a picture worth a thousand words? We think so!

Innovative, collapsible film-based technology allows this cartridge to compress into a unique lid as fluids are dispensed. Seven fully-compressed Film-Pak cartridges replace one rigid Side x Side cartridge in landfills — reducing packaging waste volume by more than 85%.

Film-Pak cartridges deliver the same quality mix performance while significantly lowering disposal costs for end users. They also reduce the carbon footprint — supporting corporate sustainability initiatives.

In addition, Film-Pak is compatible with a wide range of standard static mixers and two-component (2K) dispense guns and spray systems when using a reusable rigid retainer with integrated plungers. Specialized dispense guns designed with built-in Film-Pak retainers are also available.

A two-part material can be mixed by "hand" using a stirring stick of some sort. Intrinsically this is not an optimum way to insure consistently mixed materials. The best results for mixing two component materials are obtained by using Nordson EFD precision engineered and manufactured dispensing systems. A Nordson "system" is composed of a dual cartridge which holds both components in separate "cylinders",  and a dispensing gun which pushes the material out of the cartridge into a static mixer. Static mixers are composed of a housing and mixing elements. Mixing elements are a series of baffles which break up and combine the two streams of material many times over, ultimately producing a homogenously mixed material which exits at the outlet. Nordson EFD static mixer comes in many different configurations.

Key static mixer variables include the following: inner diameter, length, number of mixing elements, geometry of the housing and mixing elements. Nordson mixers have either a cylindrical or "square type" housing. Elements can be of various spiral configurations for cylindrical housings, or interlocking baffles for the square type housing. Mixers are made with several different plastic resins - polypropylene, Polyplas (polyacetal), polyester and nylon are the most common.

In summary, why do this?

This article is a continuation of Article I in the series, and it reviews in more detail the various static mixer parameters and how they affect adhesive dispensing. The discussion focuses on “generic” two-part adhesives and is only a general guide. There are many two-part adhesive families, each with its own individual characteristics. Within a series there are often a substantial number of formulations, again, each with their own characteristic behavior. The most common adhesive types include epoxy, polyurethane, silicone, acrylic, methacrylic, polysulfide as well as others.

A typical two-component adhesive dispensing system consists of a dispensing gun, dual cartridge to hold the adhesive and the static mixer, sometimes referred to as a “nozzle”. Important static mixer design variables are discussed below.