Pressure Sensitive Adhesive tape (PSA) is a commonly used adhesive solution in multiple industries. Think about it, you just need to take it up and tape it, all fixed! With the advantage of the fast and reliable bonding system, PSA tape could reduce considerable process time when waiting for glue adhesive to dry. What's more, reduce some weights for your final project by using acrylic foam tape to replace metal fasteners such as screws and rivets.

Here we are going to give a little insight of PSA tape and how does it work?

When a PSA tape is applied to a substrate, the interaction between these three attraction forces is key factor of how sticky and strong the tape is supposed to be:
 

1 . Adhesion - Attraction between PSA tapes and substrates

Adhesion means when PSA tape is well attached to a substrate, how much force we need to peel it off. In other words, it means how firmly the bond is between tape and surfaces.
 

2 . Cohesion - The Internal Strength

Cohesion means the internal forces between the molecules of the adhesive layer. A tape with good cohesion could resist splitting from the adhesive layer between substrates and the carrier of tapes. A tape with low to medium cohesion could break from the adhesive layer when peeling, called cohesive failure, which leads to the adhesive residue remains the reason we find the adhesive residue on the surfaces.
 

3 . Initial Tack - How well it sticks to the substrate when first contact

Initial tack means the immediate bond property of PSA when applied to a surface with minimal time and pressure. In other words, the instant adhesion once applied. Good initial tack means once the tape is applied to a substrate, it sticks to it really well. Common test method of initial tack is loop tack test and rolling ball test. When the attached surfaces are textured or irregular, use high initial tack PSA will definitely bring you good attaching performance.
 

According to different applications, the balance of the three forces works together to meet the requirement of customers. We do not need 100% of adhesion cohesion and initial tack.

For example：

• Temporary fixing application - high initial tack and medium adhesion
• Dynamic permanent bonding application - good cohesion, excellent adhesion
• Static permanent bonding application - good initial tack, excellent adhesion

All products are made for reasons, tell us the challenge you are facing, where you want to use PSA tape, the environment states such as temperature and humidity, the substrate is oily or not, etc. Tones of combinations are made and there are still more to discover! Speck has 20+ years of experience in the adhesive tape industry, our goal is to create adhesive solutions for our clients. We know the tape and we love what we do!

Contact us today for your adhesive solution→Speck-u@speck.com.tw