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Scotch High Strength Filament Tape 890 Takes Off-Shore Drilling Deeper

New reinforced tape from 3M ensures pipeline integrity and enhances productivity in extreme deep sea environments. Addressing the challenges posed by the harsh environments and extreme pressures of deep water drilling, 3M introduces Scotch® High Strength Filament Tape 890HD. With up to three times more tensile strength than any other pressure sensitive filament tape on the market, the new Scotch® High Strength Filament Tape 890HD protects the structural integrity of flexible pipe required in subsea tiebacks. For more than 30 years, 3M has been providing Scotch® High Strength Filament Reinforced Tapes to the oil and gas industry. As an extension to the existing product portfolio, the new tape provides tensile strength without sacrificing the flexibility necessary in deepwater applications. The reinforced tape is used to contain the steel bands or wires used for armoring flexible flowlines, risers and umbilicals during manufacturing. This critical process step prevents the catastrophic failure c ... Read the rest of entry »

The Effects of Low Temperatures on Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs)

With winter upon us, it's a good idea to examine the effect of low temperatures on self adhesive tape performance. The general rule is that the higher the temperature, the less force it takes to stretch a visco-elastic material. Conversely, the flexibility of the PSA polymers are reduced as the temperature decreases, causing the adhesive polymers to become harder and stiffer.
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Pro Tips for Surface Preparation and Priming to Get the Best Bond

In most instances, a bonding tape can be selected that bonds well enough to the substrates to meet the needs of the application.  However, you should always consider the surface and environment that you are working with. Before bonding, surfaces should be clean, dry, unified and free of wax, oils, dust and other contaminates. Some typical surface cleaning solvents are a 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and water mixture or heptane.  Light abrasion can be used to remove lose materials or other contaminations from the surface and should be followed by thorough cleaning. When dealing with difficult to bond substrates and critical applications, use of an adhesion promoter or primer can increase adhesion levels and help ensure the best ultimate bond strength.  3M Adhesion Promoter 111 (AP-111) and 3M Primer 94 (P94) are two broadly useful promoters for high strength bonding tapes and form the basis for an easy primer selection system. When a primer is needed, 3M AP-111 is often a preferred choice becaus ... Read the rest of entry »

There's a Tape for That

Insta Caulk® is one amazing new product in a growing trend of companies developing new products that take something that used to be done with a messy liquid adhesive or some sort of mechanical fastener and transforming it with an easy-to-apply adhesive-backed product. Adhesive tape is everywhere you look, and it’s starting to creep into places you’d never think you would ever see it.
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10 Adhesive & Bonding Application Questions to Consider

Your double coated tape or foam needs can be more narrowly defined after going through the process of answering these 10 questions.  Here are the 10 questions you need to answer before tackling your next bonding or joining application.
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U.S. Poised to Be Largest Solar Market

We've posted a few articles here on TapeBlog about the rise in solar energy and the role tape plays in the creation of the photovoltaic panels that capture the sun's rays.  The push for renewable energy in the United States has poised the country to be the largest consumer of photovoltaic cells and panels by 2013.

Check out the article here on ASI's website.

This means that there will be a big push in solar panel manufacturing.  If you've ever wondered how these panels are made, check out our Solar industry page and head over to our Facebook page to see some videos of the process of making these panels.

Training Tips for Transportation Masking

"With so many applications for masking and surface protection in the transportation industry, how can I find the right masking tape solution for my process?"

This is an important question because choosing the right masking tape is like choosing the right tool. It is important to know what you are trying to accomplish with the masking tape (your application), as well as knowing what the tape is going to be put through (environmental conditions).  Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) has published a very nice article and application-to-product chart just for this type of question. View their article, Training Tips for Transportation Masking.

2010 TapeInfo Flexible Material Usage Study

The results of the 2010 TapeInfo Flexible Material Usage Study are in. The study consisted of four questions regarding flexible material usage in the industrial arena, and included responses from myriad industries. The results were compiled and are shared here. Editors note: TapeBlog.com is operated by Tapeinfo.com personnel.

View the 2010 TapeInfo Flexible Material Usage Study now >>

Friggie Tape™ Saves Your Refrigerator Art

Friggie Tape International's "Friggie Tape™" repositionable refrigerator art tape is the answer to your stainless steel woes

For those of you who do not know, magnets do not stick to stainless steel refrigerators. For many families, this has meant saying good bye to presenting their children's artwork or good grades upon the traditional refrigerator. Many people have been searching and asking the questions "Why don't my magnets stick to my stainless steel refrigerator? What can I use instead of magnets on a stainless steel refrigerator?"

Friggie Tape International has created a repositionable tape that allows you to display your little one's favorite works of art without damaging the piece or your refrigerator's finish. Furthermore, this tape leaves no residue, which means no clean up.

Friggie Tape™ is also ideal for greeting cards, photos, trading cards, crafting projects and business presentations.

To learn more about this innovative new product, visit FriggieTape.com

3M Improves Liner for the 200MP Family

3M improves its High Performance Acrylic Adhesive 200MP products by changing the liner

3M's 9667MP and 9668MP products will be moved to a "lay flat" 83 lb. poly-coated kraft liner. This liner will increase the tape's moisture stable properties.

To learn more about these products or any other 3M products, visit 3M.com