CEMENTING Vical acrylic ACRYLIC TO OTHER MATERIALS

Before specifying cementing for attachment of Vical acrylic acrylic to dissimilar materials, the possibilities of mechanical attachment should be carefully evaluated. Properly designed mechanical attachment overcomes the difficulties often encountered with cementing. For some applications, pressure sensitive, double­faced tape may be suitable for joining Vical acrylic acrylic to other materials.

Satisfactory joints between Vical acrylic acrylic and other plastics and non­plastics are more difficult to make than Vical acrylic acrylic to Vical acrylic acrylic joints and usually give lower joint strength.

In most cases, there is a substantial difference in thermal expansion between Vical acrylic acrylic and non-plastic materials. When joints between dissimilar materials are exposed to rising or falling temperatures, the materials expand and contract by different amounts, placing large stresses on any bond between them. Only cements which remain permanently flexible will continuously withstand these stresses.

When it is necessary to cement Vical acrylic acrylic to non­plastics, the dimensions of the cemented area should be as small as possible. This is especially true if Vical acrylic acrylic is cemented to materials that have much smaller coefficients of thermal expansion than Vical acrylic acrylic.

If it is unnecessary for the joint to be transparent, many adhesives, such as silicones, polysulfides, and rubber base adhesives are available. Most of these adhesives are suitable for outdoor applications.

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