Thursday 20 April 2017

Tips on Selecting the Right Industrial Sealant

Industrial sealants can be crucial in filling gaps, voids, etc. and seal joints. These can make the space between two mating parts, arising out of dimensional variation to be void free. Industrial sealants prove crucial to the construction industry, and these must always be purchased from an authentic and reputed industrial sealants supplier. Simultaneously, various other considerations should be given due thought like:-

Sealant material

While selecting any industrial sealant, it is important that its various specifications are considered like the stability, bond strength, as well as suitability for its intended application. This cannot be overlooked as it has profound implications. Some of its leading groups of sealants are acrylic, elastomer, epoxy, phenolic, polymer, silicone and wax. They each have different specification and characteristics and are accordingly used in various applications.

Organic vs. inorganic

After the first consideration, one needs to choose between the organic or the inorganic version. Organic sealants have a chemical polymer backbone made up of the organic hydrocarbon based polymers. Few examples of such organic products are polyurethane, acrylic, polysulfide and polyether sealants. These have excellent sealing properties which include adhesion and movement. However, these are vulnerable to getting degraded by the harmful UV rays if exposed to the sun. They tend to harden a finally develop a crack owning to the normal joint movement between parts or sections of a building. This is the biggest drawback of organic sealants which eventually causes the adhesive failure.

Inorganic sealants lack a carbon-based chemistry and are crafted of materials like the silicates, aluminates, and sulfates. The biggest advantage of silicone sealants and other inorganic sealants is their application in areas involving UV, electrical and fire exposure.

One component or two component systems

Industrial sealants are also divided into one component or two component systems. The former sealants are those who have a single resin that hardens utilizing the surface moisture, applied primer or even the heat. Two component sealants have two or more resins which are often mixed well together just before application. Here the second resin chosen is hard enough to work like a hardener or catalyst and performs to cure or crosslink the sealant.