As much interest and amazement as our videos of pulling trains or parking trucks on rigs bonded with Universal Bonders generated, let’s be honest: how often do you need to pull a train or park a truck in that way? Not very often.

There are, however, very realistic situations in industrial manufacturing or repair, where hybrid adhesive becomes indispensable. This technology is completely innovative and we are discovering new possibilities with it almost on daily basis. I’m going to share only a few fields in which they will usually outperform any other available option.

One of the most common challenges in modern manufacturing is joining of two or more materials of very different characteristics. This is usually a challenge for the traditional methods as well, not only for bonding. Different materials mean different adhesion properties, but can also mean different reactions to thermal cycling, humidity, impact stress, or any number of other factors to which the final product might be subjected.

Universal Bonders tackle this challenge because they adhere well to a huge multitude of substrates and withstand well the majority of mentioned factors. Additionally, they fixture much faster than the closest competing technology, allowing you to get on with your manufacturing process sooner. For example, a 5-minute epoxy will usually take much longer than 5 minutes to fixture, while Loctite HY 4070 (Hybrid based Universal Bonder) will fixture in up to 2 minutes.

Bonding of dissimilar substrates is most often a requirement in the production of indoor and outdoor signage and advertising elements, (you can see an example in video 1 below), bonding of equipment tags and RFID tags and in the production of special architecture, like awning arms, railings and the like.

Another common requirement in, for example, production of heavy lifting equipment, street furniture, conveyor belt frames and fitness equipment is impact strength in general. Which is also where the hybrid will perform considerably better than other technologies. If you need to pair that with fast curing, chemical, heat or moisture resistance, you’ll often find a Universal Bonder is your only choice. Some of the typical examples are vibration dampers, magnetic motors, electric scooters, vending machines, plumbing production, building construction, elevator panels etc.