We dispense sealants and adhesives. What defects can temperature control address?
Sealants and adhesives fall into the class of high-viscosity fluids. While they may share some functions with their coating brethren (e.g., corrosion prevention), they have a much different primary purpose-joining and sealing. Still, they exhibit the same properties with respect to temperature and viscosity as do all fluids. Proper location and thickness, often referred to as registration and bead profile, are the properties necessary for these fluids to perform their primary objective. If the fluid temperature is too high, the viscosity will be too low, which will result in the bead profile spreading out and thinning. On vertical surfaces, it may also “slump”, losing its registration. If the temperature is too low, the viscosity will be too high, which can result in the bead profile being too high and narrow and thus not covering the area it is meant to join or protect. Each of these situations can be avoided by accurately controlling the fluid temperature.
