Gluing clear acrylic to ABS

[apdesign]

Anyone have any experience with any of the available adhesives for bonding acrylic (PMMA) to ABS? I know Dymax and some others make adhesives.

This is for a low cost consumer product. Both parts are in a a cosmetically sensitive area (visible to user of end product) so I don't want to be able to see adhesive residue....especially on the acrylic.

Thanks
apdesign.

 

[Heckler]

We use a lot of Loctite products and the rep left a sample of the Loctite® 3030 Plastic Bonding Adhesive for us to try. We ultrasonic weld most if not all our plastic components but the Loctite® 3030 Plastic Bonding Adhesive has proved to be a worthy alternative.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
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(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

 

[tripleZ]

Heckler, have you ever tried resealing cracked pieces of ABS with the Loctite 3030? Would it hold up in a similar fashion to a plastic welded piece of ABS?

I have some ABS motorcycle fairings that require some small crack repair, and need to know if I have to teach myself plastic welding, or if some basic adhesive will provide a bond with some flexibility.

Sorry to threadjack here.

 

[Heckler]

Triple - I haven't tried but when I get some free time I can try to a sample piece. I would check Loctites website for Loctites Design Guide for Bonding Plastics.

http://www.loctite.com/int_henkel/loctite_us/index.cfm?pageid=10&layout=1

http://www.loctite.com/int_henkel/loctite_us/binarydata/pdf/LT2197_PBGv4.pdf

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

 

[MadMango]

3M also has a adhesive tapes (VBH series) that may work, if your application can handle the additional thickness.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[btrueblood]

We've done simple solvent welds on acrylic and ABS: just mate the parts and add a few drops of acetone or MEK to the bond line, then press or clamp until the solvent dries. I don't think I'd rely on it for parachute ripcords or similar, but the bond can be as strong as the parent materials if done with some precision.

 

[apdesign]

Heckler,
Thanks. Does ultrasonic welding abrade a really polished visible surface like clear acrylic? I'm trying to bond a clear acrylic window to a base made of ABS (imagine a square box that youre trying to bond a clear window to the open side os.. The base is about 1.5 inches deep. Im not sure where the Ultrasonic horn would have to go in order to bond from that far away or if the result would be ugly after the ultrasonic bonding.

Ultrasonic horns cost ~$10-$20K, right?

 

[Heckler]

It would depend how the part was fixtured. If it was designed to be UW then those types of provisions could be added to the part. I would have to see the parts to make any type of statement. We bought all our machines used and if I'm not mistaken they were around $4K each.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

 

[Pud]

Triplez:

I repaired my motorcycle fairing (broken off fixing lug) about 4 years ago with Loctite 406 - still ok.

Fairing is ABS.


Cheers


Harry