Hello biggiginthesky,

I am sure there is, depending on the load.

You talking double-sided tape here? There are many out there. Carpet tapes have a very high PSA coat weight on each side and have great tack, but are not necessarily that cohesively strong.

It would be very helpful if you could disclose the application and what kind of stresses the adhered structure would have to bear.

Knowing the surface energy (measured with a dyne pen or solution) of the C-composite would also help.

Answer these questions and I can give more directed advice.

Mike

Mikerho.

I'm designing a scuba diving support boat with a see through bottom, the boat structure it's going to be carbon fiber composite (avoiding aluminum since it oxidizes and than it will lose it's "grip"?! Or is there a way around it?) and the bottom of course it's lexan, shock and shatter proof.

Thanks.

For the loads that are experienced on the hulls, bottom plating of vessels, my sense is that adhesives alone will be insufficient. You will need to have the interface between the lexan and the fiberglass a mechanical one. This would require that the edge or coaming be strengthened and a mechanical bonding system be devised. This will probably mean that the lexan will be sanwiched between the fiberglass with stainless fasteners and and stainless frame. Similar to a window in a vessel.

I agree with you that adheisive wil not be enough. I would suggest as a seal/adheisive bettween the two materials 3M VHB tape. It never completely cures, but continues to flow very slowly, thus filling all pores in the materials. It is water tight and very strong. The VHB stands for very high bond. This combined with stainless screws and a bezel to keep the Lexan (polycarbonate) from cracking should work well.

Hi again, biggiginthesky,

I disagree with "guest" and garyceng. There has been an enormous amount of development in the adhesive arena in the last several years yielding solutions in a wide range of applications.

There is a tape out there called "Gecko Grip", and it is a PSA (Pressure Sensitive Adhesive), with the highest adhesion I have seen so far in PSAs.

The biggest thing you will have to worry about is how salt water will affect the bond between the clear polymer "see-through" boat bottom and the carbon fiber composite.

I think you are worrying overmuch about bonding to the aluminum (Al). Once Al is exposed to the atmosphere, a thin layer of oxide forms on the surface. This layer prevents more oxidation from ocurring. Many PSAs will not have a problem adhering to the aluminum.

I would try a scaled-down (maybe bathtub?) test.

Let us know what you find out!

Mike

Mikerho,

I respectfully dissagree with your dissagreement. Only nearly pure aluminum alloys have sufficient protection from oxidation and they are too soft for any type of construction. I have aluminum bars that have been setting out in the weather too long , not even exposed to salt and they have become useless because the oxidation has gone deep into the bar stock. I do realize that you can buy alluminum hulled row boats but they too are subject to oxidation and require extra care. This is why aircraft parts require either anodize or coating with zinc chromate.

My first thought would be a cyanoacrylate, for example:

http://www.bsi-inc.com/Pages/hobby/ca.html

Are you building a tank, or a speaker cabinet? These materials don't readily bond."

"a carbon fiber composite to a lexan sheet / rod." You could wrap a PC rod with composite and never separate them. Some of the other combos don't work so well. No adhesion.

Really need some detailed information.

Hello biggiginthesky,

Hope some of these are ok............... I have listed what I think is the US site of 3M first.

Good luck.

3M United States: Products, Brands and TechnologiesPost-it3MLabels; Swine Flu; Shop 3M; NASCAR; Technologies; 3M Careers. ... High Strength Bonding Tape (3M™ VHB™ Tapes) · Industrial Tapes ...
solutions.3m.com/en_US/ - Cached - Similar -

2. Polycarbonate Supplier On GlobalSpecEncapsulants and potting compounds are resins or adhesives that are used to encapsulate ... Lexan EXL Resin offers improved toughness at low temperatures and molding productivity. ... Browse Terminal and Junction Boxes Datasheets for FIBOX Enclosures USA ... Polycarbonate Composite Reinforced with 30% Glass Fibre ? ...
   materials.globalspec.com/Industrial.../polycarbonate_supplier - Cached - Similar -
3. 
   
4. Kapton® Tape (Acrylic Adhesive) - KAPTON TAPE - Order OnlinePlexiglass Patio Table Tops - PatioGlass® Replacement Glass ..... Kapton® Tape (Acrylic Adhesive) - 1K7177, 1K7178- is a 1 mil Kapton film coated with ...
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1. Kapton® CR Tape (Silicone Adhesive) - KAPTON CR TAPE - Order OnlineKapton® CR Tape (Silicone Adhesive) (KAPTON CR TAPE) available through the Professional ... Plexiglass Patio Table Tops - PatioGlass® Replacement Glass ...
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3. Kapton® Tape (Silicone Adhesive) - KAPTON TAPE- Order OnlineKapton® Tape (Silicone Adhesive) (DUPONT KAPTON TAPE with SILICONE ADHESIVE) is available ... Plexiglass Patio Table Tops - PatioGlass® Replacement Glass ...
   www.professionalplastics.com/KaptonTape-siliconeadhesive - Cached - Similar
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5. Lexan Polycarbonate Cross-Reference to Makrolon - Order OnlineKYNStick® Kynar® Film Tape with Adhesive .... Lexan ® polycarbonate resin is an amorphous engineering thermoplastic, characterized by outstanding mechanical ...
   www.professionalplastics.com/LexanSheetMakrolonPolycarbonate - Cached - Similar
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7. Lexan® XL10 sheet - GE LEXAN XL10 Buy OnlineLexan® XL10 sheet (LEXAN XL10) UV resistant polycarbonate sheet is available through the Professional Plastics ... KYNStick® Kynar® Film Tape with Adhesive ...
   www.professionalplastics.com/LEXANXL10 - Cached - Similar
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9. Mil Spec Materials (MIL-I)(MIL-P) Plastic Materials - Order OnlinePlexiglass Patio Table Tops - PatioGlass® Replacement Glass ..... MIL-P-15126F Insulation Tape, Electrical, Pressure Sensitive & Thermoset Adhesive ...
   www.professionalplastics.com/MIL-SPECS - Cached Similar. .........
10. 
    
1. HI BOND (COMPOSITES ONE) BOAT MAINTENANCEHI BOND (COMPOSITES ONE) BOAT MAINTENANCE. Page 1 of 4 | Next > · 2LB POUR FOAM GL KIT HIB-1810. ... BOATYARD POLYESTER RESIN QT (BOAT YARD POLYESTER RESIN) ...
   www.jmsonline.net/mfg_HI-BOND-COMPOSITES-ONE_BOAT-MAINTENANCE.htm - Cached - Similar -
2. MARINE TEX (PHILADELPHIA RESINS / TRAVACO) BOAT MAINTENANCEMARINE TEX (PHILADELPHIA RESINS / TRAVACO) BOAT MAINTENANCE. Page 1 of 1 ... FLEX SET 30G EPOXY ADHESIVE (MARINE-TEX FLEX-SET UNDERWATER EPOXY) ... MASKING TAPE · METAL CLEANERS-POLISH AND RUST-CORROSION REMOVERS · MISCELLANEOUS REPAIR PRODUCTS ... EPIFANES · EVERCOAT (FIBRE GLASS) · FERRO (WESTERN PACIFIC TRADING) ...
   www.jmsonline.net/mfg_MARINE-TEX-PHILADELPHIA-RESINS-TRAVACO_BOAT-MAINTENANCE.htm - Cached - Similar -
3. apeTape® Adhesive Tapeswww.apeTape.co.uk .....
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5. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=YbU&ei=cbiDSrCPGoLSjAeEz-GYCA&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=adhesive+or+resin+tape+to+permanently+bond+glass+fibre+to+lexan+%22u.s.a.%22&spell=1 .........
6. 
   

with our uvc treatment tacktreat you can bond it easy without primer and vocfree,under w3 tackservice add aol dot com you can contact me.

with the treament of our tacktreat uvc all materials can be easy and simple bonded.please note that there is no universal adhesive avaialble,each material and application needs different solutions.emil

MEK, better known as Methyl Ethyl Keytone will soften the lexan enough that the carbon fiber will push right into it's matrix. What I would do is take some lexan filings and mix them with the MEK and after you machine a ridge all the way around the window us the MEK mixture as bondo to fill it in. Do it on both sides fro strength.

I have experience with a 3M adhesive tape called TP1100 LSD It is a Low Surface Energy adhesive and I used it for an exterior automotive application. It worked very well as I was able to eliminate the use of Add Pro (adhesive promoter). It was used to adhere an extruded rubber seal to a painted surface and an ABS surface. As for Lexan I am not sure but may be worth a try! I couldn't find the same stuff but here is a link to an equivalent or newer generation of it.

http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediawebserver.dyn?6666660Zjcf6lVs6EVs66SjZgCOrrrrQ-

I don't know what's going on here, but this is what I got when I clicked on the link:

	The website cannot display the page
	HTTP 500
Most likely causes: The website is under maintenance. The website has a programming error.
What you can try:
Refresh the page.
Go back to the previous page.
More information

Back to the topic; when you say "low surface energy adhesive", are you saying that this adhesive will adhere to low surface energy substrates, rather than that the adhesive has low surface energy itself? I suspect this is the case, but the way you worded it is misleading.

I cannot find anything on this product (3M has soooo many products).

All the information was helpfull one way or another.

Thank you all.