At the forthcoming JEC Europe 2014 Composites Show in Paris on 11-13 March, Scott Bader will be exhibiting (stand D32) and launching Crestabond M1-04, adding a ‘rapid bond’ grade to the range of primer-less methacrylate structural adhesives, with a fixture time of only 8-10 minutes. Crestabond M1-04 offers assemblers a reduction of over 40% in the maximum fixture time when compared to the existing Crestabond M1-05 grade, with no loss of bonding performance properties.

For the first time, the recently expanded global group of Scott Bader companies and manufacturing plants located in Europe, the Middle East, India, Canada and South America will also be exhibiting together on the same stand at JEC Europe 2014, and promoting the former ATC Formulated Polymers range of products from Canada which are now fully incorporated into the European range.

Crestabond M1-04 ‘Rapid Bond’

Crestabond M1-04 has been developed by Scott Bader to significantly increase production efficiencies for high volume parts assembly. With no requirement for a substrate primer and a working time of only 3-4 minutes, assembled parts bonded with Crestabond M1-04 can be moved on to the next stage of production in as little as 8 minutes. According to Scott Bader test data, Crestabond M1-04 will effectively bond composites, plastics, ABS, aluminium, stainless steel and many other substrates commonly used in industrial applications. This new ‘rapid bond’ Crestabond grade is expected to be of particular interest to automotive OEMs and tier one and tier two suppliers due to its high elongation and toughness, its productivity benefits and its reliable long-term adhesion performance. Information on the complete ranges of Crystic® Crestomer urethane acrylate and Crestabond methacrylate 10:1 and 1:1 ratio structural adhesives offered by Scott Bader, as well as application case studies, will also be available at the show.

POLY-FAIR tooling compounds

The ‘Scott Bader-ATC’ range of POLY-FAIR® modified polyester tooling compounds, now available in Europe, will be showcased on the stand as part of the complete range of products now globally offered by Scott Bader for pattern and mould making. POLY-FAIR was previously the trade mark of ATC Formulated Polymers Inc., prior to the acquisition made by Scott Bader back in 2013.                 Crystic Primecoat and Topcoat can be applied to POLY-FAIR products to achieve a high gloss surface finish, enabling the production of a high quality mould using the Crystic tooling system: 15PA gelcoat, VE 679PA skincoat and RTR4000PA rapid tooling back up resin.  The addition of the POLY-FAIR range complements existing Crystic tooling products, offering tool makers a full suite of materials from Scott Bader to fulfil all their needs; from plug manufacturing through to mould production.

Both the extrusion and the spray grades of POLY-FAIR tooling compound will be showcased for the first time by Scott Bader in Europe and a variety of tooling parts will be on the Scott Bader JEC stand in Paris; both versions are well established in North America as accurate composite tool making materials, offering the benefits of low shrink, high toughness and dust free cutting to produce a highly accurate profile of the finished part. POLY-FAIR T28 is the extrudable tooling compound, designed for milling of small and large plugs or direct limited production moulds using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) multiple axis machines. POLY-FAIR T27 is the sprayable version, which is also fully CNC machinable, designed for milling patterns and large plugs with dimensions of 10-25 metres (30-75ft) or direct limited production moulds. POLY-FAIR T27 can be sprayed with several passes up to a thickness of approximately 25mm (1”).

Specialty High Performance Gelcoats and Resins

Other high performance products from Scott Bader’s Advanced Composites Business will also be featured during JEC Europe 2014, such as the Crystic range of speciality fire retardant (FR) gelcoats and resin FRP laminate systems for applications needing exceptionally low surface spread of flame with low smoke and toxic fumes (FST). This will included the Class 1 fire rated intumescent non-flammable protective FR topcoat Crystic Fireguard 75PA Excel, which can withstand a direct flame at a temperature of 700°C for over 60 minutes without the laminate behind catching fire.

Crestapol® high performance urethane acrylate based acrylic resins will also be a key product range promoted on the Scott Bader stand during JEC Europe this year, showing the exceptional FST performance offered by Crestapol 1212, as well as the extreme toughness of Crestapol 1250LV, developed for closed moulding very lightweight motorsports and transportation parts with woven fabrics made from glass, carbon and aramid fibres; a carbon fibre reinforced Crestapol 1250LV front bumper from a Suzuki S1600 rally car will be exhibited on the stand. According to Scott Bader, Crestapol acrylic resins offer a real alternative to phenolics and epoxies, already demonstrated in practice by key speciality motorsport composite parts producers such as Galway Carbon in Eire and Karbonius Composites in Spain. Neil Gray, Global Business Manager for Crestapol resins, is giving an open forum technical presentation during the show on Tuesday 11 March at 12.00 noon about the properties and processing of Crestapol 1250LV, including highlights of recent successful case studies about demanding high performance rally car body panel applications.