Situation:

A plastics molder wanted to replace poor performing ultrasonic welding and double-sided tapes used in subassembly steps for a housing of a handheld electronic device which led to failure complaints from the field

Substrates: ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) || PC (Polycarbonate)

Challenges:

The manufacturer was facing the following challenges with the existing solution:

• Ultrasonic welding process steps were too slow to meet OEM customer production demands
• High cost of welding and expense of maintenance and repairs for ultrasonic welding equipment
• Double sided tapes were difficult to apply, slowed assembly, and had insufficient bond strength

Solution:

Basis the requirements, Henkel solutions expert recommended LOCTITE AA 330 acrylic bonder to bond ABS to Polycarbonate.

LOCTITE 7387 activator is applied on the polycarbonate window and LOCTITE AA 330 is applied to the housing window frame. Fixture strength is achieved in 5 minutes.

During testing it was found that the bonded assembly was able to pass the quality testing.

Results:

Bonding with LOCTITE AA 330:

• Provided very high bonding strength on ABS and PC
• Eliminated complaints about failure from the field
• Simplified and fastened assembly
• Improved overall housing aesthetics