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| General Questions |
| Q. |
What is the difference between 3M™ Acrylic Plus Tape compared to conventional 3M™ Acrylic Foam Tape (AFT)? |
| A. |
The 3M Acrylic Plus Tape product is an advancement in both the adhesive and core technology from 3M AFT. The adhesive system provides better adhesion over a wide variety of conditions and substrates, while the core of 3M Acrylic Plus Tape provides improved stress distribution properties. The stress distribution characteristic allows for a tighter bond line between the mating substrates (i.e., part and sheet metal) when mismatch exists. Finally, the product is black, offering styling and cosmetic advantages for trim components. |
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| Q. |
Why should I change if I do not have a problem? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tapes offer a wide range of performance enhancements over conventional 3M AFTs for a variety of applications. The new product is more robust, allowing for greater flexibility in design on future programs and improved reliability on existing programs. This benefit from a comparably priced product should allow for meaningful system cost reduction. 3M Acrylic Plus Tape is the latest development in tape technology from the tape leader, 3M. |
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| Q. |
Why can you make 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes black? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tape products emerge from a breakthrough technology that offers more product features, including the capability to make a black tape. |
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| Q. |
What is the price of the tape? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tapes are priced similarly to conventional 3M AFT products. The product was developed in this manner to maintain total system value while offering improved performance. This adds up to overall system cost reduction throughout the supply chain. |
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| Q. |
What thicknesses are offered? |
| A. |
Initially, exterior trim tapes are offered in 1.1 mm thickness and sealing tapes in 1.2 mm thickness. |
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| Q. |
Do you have weathering results? |
| A. |
Yes, we have two-year Florida/Arizona aging testing and vehicle proving ground testing on 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes. |
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| Q. |
Does the product take a compression set? |
| A. |
All tapes take a compression set at some given force. However, 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes take less compression set than conventional 3M AFTs at equal forces. |
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| Q. |
What type of temperature ranges do the 3M Acrylic Plus Tape products stand up to? |
| A. |
The product is designed to sustain a temperature range of -40° F to 300° F over the life of the vehicle. |
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| Q. |
Do you have to heat the body or the part? |
| A. |
No, as with conventional 3M AFTs, 3M does not recommend that the body or part be heated. Recommended application temperature range is 60-100° F. |
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| Q. |
Does the body need to be cleaned? |
| A. |
Cleaning is recommended if contaminants are present that may impede tape adhesion, such as dirt, oils, etc. It is a good safeguard in assembly plants and has been made much easier with the development of 3M™ Scotch-Brite™ High Performance Wipes. An alcohol/water mixture is no longer needed for cleaning the body with the introduction of Scotch-Brite high performance wipes. |
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| Q. |
When are sample materials available? |
| A. |
Prototype samples are currently available. Please contact your 3M Automotive Division representative. |
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| Q. |
How does the liner release compare to conventional red (exterior) and orange (sealing) liners? |
| A. |
Liner release is smoother and easier, as all 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes utilize a uniquely designed, silicone-coated liner. |
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| Q. |
How is this product tabbed? |
| A. |
The smooth, easy release of the liner may eliminate the need to tab. It cannot be heat-bond tabbed. One option is an extended liner tab and is actually the most reliable tabbing method. Pressure-sensitive adhesive tabs may provide another option. |
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| Q. |
Is this product recyclable? |
| A. |
It is similar to 3M AFT and depends on specific recycling requirements. |
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| Q. |
Where is the product made? |
| A. |
In a QS 9000-certified 3M production facility. |
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| Q. |
Is the new tape over-engineered? Can we reduce the performance and take out the cost? |
| A. |
No, the 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes have been designed in response to an increase in demanding applications for tape in automotive trim and sealing systems. The tapes respond to the changing materials and paint systems, and also enable the use of tape-attached systems in previously risky areas such as underhood, primary door sealing, rocker panels and the attachment of seals to glass to help protect against water and noise intrusion. |
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| Q. |
Does the tape have a stickier, higher-performing adhesive? |
| A. |
Yes, 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes utilize a more aggressive adhesive system, translating into a higher initial tack and quicker adhesion-building product. |
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| Q. |
What adhesive is on 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tape utilizes VR-2 adhesive system, a high-performance, acrylic-based adhesive. |
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| Q. |
Is VR-2 adhesive like AR-7 adhesive? |
| A. |
Yes, it is similar to AR-7 adhesive (also an acrylic-based adhesive) but offers faster adhesion build to a wider variety of substrates and more stable adhesion levels over a broad range of environmental conditions. |
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| Q. |
How does VR-1 adhesive compare with DS-4 or other non-liner side adhesives? |
| A. |
VR-1 adhesive is significantly better than DS-4 adhesive. This may allow for bonding to some plastics without an adhesion promoter. 3M recommends testing to determine performance. |
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| Q. |
Can I get a foam split? |
| A. |
In 72-hour adhesion testing and beyond, you generally get foam split, depending on the test conditions and substrates. Foam split adhesion levels are most commonly achieved within 24 hours, much faster than conventional 3M AFTs. Failure modes in destructive testing will be similar to those experienced with conventional 3M AFTs. |
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| Q. |
Do you get faster adhesion and foam split with VR-2 versus AR-7 adhesive? |
| A. |
Yes, in most cases you will get both. |
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| Q. |
3M AFT takes 72 hours for full cure; what about 3M Acrylic Plus Tape? |
| A. |
In general, 3M Acrylic Plus Tape achieves full adhesion build within 24 hours, compared to 72 hours for conventional 3M AFTs. |
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| Q. |
How much more aggressive is VR-2 versus AR-7 adhesive? |
| A. |
Generally speaking, it is 10% more aggressive than AR-7, depending on the surface. |
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| Q. |
Do I still need to use a promoter? |
| A. |
Yes, you still need to use a promoter to adhere to many plastic trim components. As with conventional 3M AFTs, no adhesion promoter is necessary for adhesion to paint. |
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| Q. |
What is the recommended weight-to-tape ratio for exterior applications? |
| A. |
As a general guideline, we recommend 18 grams/inch of tape for a starting design. Other considerations should include type of substrate material, size of the part, design latitude and cost. |
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| Stress Distribution Questions |
| Q. |
How do the products perform with regard to low angle peel? |
| A. |
The product performs as well as conventional 3M AFT in low angle peel. |
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| Q. |
Will I be able to reduce the width of the hider lip from 0.5 mm? |
| A. |
Hider lips are generally added for styling and cosmetic purposes. Because our 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes are black and provide a tighter bond line than conventional 3M AFTs (stress distribution), the tapes should provide for reduced or eliminated hider lips. It's part of our overall system cost advantage to providing a sleeker product. |
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| Q. |
Does this tape elongate more or less than conventional 3M AFT? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tapes elongate less and feature unique stress distribution properties that reduce the amount of elongation in the tape when substrate-to-substrate mismatch occurs. The result is a tighter, sleeker bond line and cleaner vehicle appearance. |
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| Q. |
Can 3M Acrylic Plus Tape handle a bigger mismatch than the current 3M AFT? |
| A. |
3M does not recommend that tolerances be sacrificed because of the 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes. However, these tapes have better stress distribution, resulting in less elongation and a tighter bond line for mismatch between parts. Specifically, 3M Acrylic Plus Tape will have lower elongation than 3M AFT at equal stresses. |
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| Q. |
How do we explain the difference in the "screw test" performance? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tapes are designed for lower elongation at a given load, whereas the "screw test" shows the point at which a tape can no longer elongate. With conventional tapes, the product is designed to elongate over the varying load range. |
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| Wet-Out Questions |
| Q. |
How can I get a better wet-out? |
| A. |
The 3M Acrylic Plus Tape technology offers a more conformable core than the softest core available with conventional 3M AFTs. The new technology allows us to achieve a unique balance of properties, improving wet-out without sacrificing foam strength. In doing this, we achieve a more conformable product than conventional AFTs with better bond line integrity. |
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| Q. |
Does it take the same amount of force or less force to wet-out? |
| A. |
3M Acrylic Plus Tapes requires less force to wet-out than conventional 3M AFTs. Part wet-out has many variables; and, as with current systems, 3M provides technical support and recommendations for specific applications. |
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| Q. |
Why don't I see a wet-out improvement on my application? |
| A. |
If your part already has a good fit and good wet-out with 3M AFT, you should not expect to see a drastic improvement using 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes. The benefit of 3M Acrylic Plus Tapes is most apparent when applying rigid parts (i.e., claddings, wheel flares, rockers, etc.) or applying parts to uneven surfaces. |
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Less than optimal wet-out conditions may still result from poor part match, rigid interferences (i.e., hider lips) on trim parts, or poor processing guidelines. Please contact your 3M Automotive Division sales and technical service personnel for assistance on these applications. |
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| High Temperature Processing Questions |
| Q. |
Can 3M Acrylic Plus Tape PT 1100 be used in a painted part application? |
| A. |
Yes, if a Tier One prefers to prime and tape parts before painting, 3M PT 1100 tape can be used and will withstand the high temperature paint bake cycles. 3M PT 1100 tape has been successfully tested on parts exposed to 280° F for 30 minutes. |
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| Q. |
Does the appearance of 3M Acrylic Plus Tape PT 1100 change after being exposed to a paint bake cycle? |
| A. |
No, the appearance remains visually unchanged. If the parts shrink after being exposed to the paint bake process, the tape will have to be stretched 3-4% during lamination, which is within our normal tape processing guidelines. If the tape is not stretched during lamination to the parts and the parts shrink, a slight wrinkling pattern may be observed in the tape after the bake cycle. This wrinkling pattern is not desired, as it may affect the wet-out of the tape. |
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| Q. |
What about wet-out and adhesion performance after paint bake? |
| A. |
Testing has shown that 3M Acrylic Plus Tape wets-out better than standard 3M AFT after exposure to paint bake cycles. Also, wet-out with 3M Acrylic Plus Tape does not get worse after several paint bake cycles, but stays about the same. |
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Testing has shown that adhesion performance with 3M Acrylic Plus Tape after paint bake is equal to or better than 3M AFT. 3M Acrylic Plus Tape has a high performance adhesive on both sides. |
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| Q. |
Can the silicone-coated liner withstand the high temperature paint bakes? |
| A. |
Yes, the silicone-coated liner on 3M Acrylic Plus Tape has good startability and functions well after exposure to these high temperatures. Testing has shown this liner is stable after exposure to 300° F for 30 minutes. |
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