How To Meet Key Specialty Tape Performance Demands

Key Performance Need #1: Balanced Tack And Shear 

Specialty tapes often need to bond to a variety of substrates, including low surface energy (LSE), and maintain structural integrity under stress forces such as mechanical load, vibration and thermal cycling. For example, in automotive applications, tapes experience stress from constant vibration and temperature fluctuations inside an engine compartment. 

Tack helps with initial adhesion, while shear strength helps prevent slippage or failure.  

However, achieving a balance with both can be difficult, because high tack typically means less shear strength. In other words, high tack helps the adhesive be soft and flowable to improve wet out – though this consistency means there is less internal cohesive strength to resist shear forces that try to slide adhesive layers apart. This can occur when a mounted component shifts under weight or vibration.

If you prioritize tack over shear, the tape may bond quickly but fail under load or temperature stress. On the flip side, if you prioritize having high shear, the tape may resist slippage and maintain a bond without failure, yet it may struggle to adhere to substrates (i.e. LSE plastics, textured or rough surfaces) in the first place due to its low tack. This can lead to poor initial bonding and potential delamination.

How Specialty Solution Acrylic PSA Technology Offers Balanced Tack And Shear 

Specialty solution acrylic PSA technology for tape applications achieves the balance between tack and shear through its solvent-based formulation:  

• The solvent system plays a critical role in tack performance, because it allows for uniform dispersion of tackifiers and functional additives throughout the adhesive. This creates strong initial tack for forming the bond without compromising structural integrity.  
• Meanwhile, the base polymer, which is formulated for strong cohesive strength, provides high shear performance. This means this technology can help prevent slippage or failure while also forming a strong initial bond. 

By minimizing the typical trade-off between tack and shear, specialty solution acrylic PSA technology can offer a reliable solution for specialty tapes that require both secure adhesion and long-term stability. This can especially help your tapes when bonding to LSE substrates, which are more difficult to wet out and bond effectively.

For specialty tapes used in applications such as automotive, electronics and industrial, high peel adhesion helps ensure the tape remains securely attached even under stress, vibration or environmental exposure.  

This is critical for substrates such as polypropylene and stainless steel, which are commonly used in these markets but can present bonding challenges due to their surface properties: 

• Polypropylene has low surface energy, which can make it difficult for adhesives to wet out and form strong bonds.  
• Stainless steel, which has high surface energy, often has smooth finishes or protective coatings that reduce mechanical anchoring and can lead to contamination, further complicating adhesion. 

How Specialty Solution Acrylic PSA Technology Offers High Peel Adhesion  

Specialty solution acrylic PSA technology, as mentioned previously, delivers excellent adhesion to low surface energy substrates such as polypropylene, as well as high energy surfaces like stainless steel.  

This is because the solvent-based formulation allows the adhesive polymers to fully interact with the surface, creating excellent wet out and film formation. This capability is especially important for LSE plastics like polypropylene, which require proper wet out to reduce the adhesive from beading up rather than spreading out.  

Further, specialty solution acrylic PSA technology is formulated so the adhesive polymers flow and conform to surface irregularities, creating a strong bond on high surface energy substates that lack mechanical anchoring such as stainless steel. It is also designed to tolerate minor surface contamination, maintaining adhesion strength where other adhesives might fail.  

Further, it’s important to note its high peel adhesion is achieved without sacrificing other key properties like tack and shear strength; the solvent-based formulation optimizes polymer cohesion and tackifier distribution, allowing the adhesive to maintain a balanced structure while enhancing peel performance. 

In many conventional adhesives, improving peel adhesion often comes at the expense of tack or shear strength, leading to poor initial bonding or reduced durability – specialty solution acrylic PSAs support all three properties simultaneously. This makes it suitable for automotive, electronics and industrial applications requiring strong initial bond and long-term durability.

• High peel adhesion complements high tack by helping the initial quick bond created during application to translate into lasting strength. Tack provides instant grip, while peel adhesion confirms that the bond remains secure when subjected to peeling forces over time. Together, they deliver quick adhesion during installation and long-term performance. 
• Combined with high shear strength, high peel helps ensure specialty tapes stay in place during application and throughout their service life, even under mechanical stress or thermal cycling. This means the tape will be less likely lift or fail prematurely, reducing rework and improving reliability in critical applications.