Posted by Mike Burris on | Comments Off on Material of the Month: Felt
CGR Products stocks a large variety of materials for a wide range of applications. Flexible rubber sheeting, adhesive solutions, and fiber materials are just a few of our specialty options.
Our Material of the Month series spotlights some of our favorite materials and their unique applications. This month, we’re discussing Felt.
What is Felt?
Felt is a very versatile and resilient industrial fabric that is manufactured using different processes.
Needle Punch Process:
A fiber such as polyester is interlocked using a machine with thousands of needles moving in an up and down motion. Heat is then applied using a calendar roll to make a smoother surface and remove fuzziness from the felt. Calendaring can also be used to produce a firmer sheet. A binder can be added to felt that needs to be thermo-formable.
Woven:
Wool or wool blended with other yarn are woven into cloth and then felted using steam and pressure to interlock the fibers.
Pressed:
Wool fibers or wool blended with other fibers are pressed together with steam and pressure that allows the fibers to naturally interlock.
Material Terminology
Denier: weight in grams of one single thread of fiber 9,000 meters long.
Loft = thickness
Hand: the feel of the felt.
Weight: ounces per square foot or grams per square meter.
Vibration dampening gaskets, noise reduction, and lint and air seals.
General Industrial Applications
Industrial sander backing pads, floor protection pads, and oiler pads for slitting and friction applications.
Using Felt for Your Application
As flexible material specialists, the CGR team offers years of experience in converting felt into components to fit specialty projects. Our in-house precision cutting services include rotary and flatbed die cutting, kiss cutting, slitting, splitting, knife cutting, and more.
For more information about applications and fabrication possibilities, visit our Materials Page. To discuss any Felt options for your next project, please reach out to our team today.
Posted by Mike Burris on | Comments Off on Protecting Adhesive Materials During Humid Summer Months
Summer’s heat and humidity can be especially damaging to adhesive materials.
If not properly shielded , the siliconized release liner of your pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) will wrinkle and pucker in the heat — called cockling — resulting in overall production kinks and system failures.
With the start of summer rapidly approaching, protection of your adhesive materials is critical to ensure they perform well in your application year-round. That’s why we turned to Adchem Corporation for tips on how to defend products against the harmful effects of cockling.
Causes and Potential Damage
The nature and composition of PSAs make them susceptible to cockling, as 85% of release liners are derived from highly absorbent paper and wood pulp materials. In high humidity environments and during the hot summer months, these materials absorb the atmosphere’s moisture, making them swell and curl.
In addition to humidity, general fluctuations in temperature can cause cockling. These fluctuations create a harmful cycle in which the wood fibers dry out in elevated temperatures and condensate during the cooling process. The constant changes in both temperature and moisture ripen the material for cockling.
Either of these conditions can damage and ruin your material in the following ways:
Performance failure – Air pockets form, so the release liner no longer protects the adhesive, resulting in dried-out adhesive.
Fabrication issues – Wrinkles and creases in the first and second laminating process waste material and can clog converting equipment, such as die cutting and printing tools, during the manufacturing process.
Uneven adhesive performance – Inconsistent adhesive causes the liner to be pulled off during cutting, resulting in the creation of extra waste.
Increased costs – All of the aforementioned issues will drive up your overall cost.
Solutions
For enhanced adhesive material protection against cockling, OEMs should take the following precautions throughout the manufacturing process:
Use a more effective material such as poly-coated liners.
Use a higher-basis weight material with a layer of poly-coating on both sides.
Minimize the amount of heat applied to paper during manufacturing of the release liner.
Re-moisturize the release liner to mitigate drying and restore moisture levels.
Always store liners in a cool, dry environment.
Wrap plastic around both ends of each roll to keep moisture away and wrap the entire roll after a laminating job.
By taking these provisions, OEMs can help to protect the release liner, defend against cockling, and maintain the proper performance and appearance of the adhesive system.
Why CGR?
CGR Products proudly follows Adchem’s best practices for adhesive materials, ensuring your finished component is always prepared to perform at its best. Our adhesives are specially designed to withstand harsh conditions that lead to cockling, including extreme environments and temperatures.
Posted by Mike Burris on | Comments Off on Material of the Month: Silicone Rubber
CGR Products stocks material choices of all kinds — flexible rubber sheeting, adhesive solutions, and fiber materials are just the beginning of our specialty options.
Our Material of the Month series spotlights some of our favorite materials and their unique applications. This month, we’re discussing silicone rubber.
What is Silicone Rubber?
Silicone rubber is a unique, extremely flexible synthetic elastomer. It is extraordinarily versatile and relatively simple to manufacture, making it essential for industries ranging from automotive to home goods.
Materials and Properties
In addition to its outstanding ease of production, this unique material offers a wide range of specialized properties, including:
High and low temperature stability
Compression resistance
Tear strength and flexibility
Long-term tensile strength and elongation properties
Excellent insulation
Easy coloration and formula customization
Resistance to chemicals, fungus, ozone, aging, weather, and flames
Varying degrees of hardness and softness
Applications and Industries
Silicone’s list of applications is constantly growing — its versatility and accessibility make it particularly appealing to innovators across industries. Some key uses include:
Sealants and gaskets in the automotive industry
Door and window seals in aeronautics and aviation
Equipment in food and beverage applications
Gaskets in electronics and energy transmission
Sensitive, hypoallergenic tools in medicine and veterinary science
Using Silicone for Your Application
As flexible material specialists, the CGR team offers years of experience in converting silicone into components to fit specialty projects. Our in-house precision cutting services include rotary and flatbed die cutting, kiss cutting, slitting, splitting, knife cutting, and more.
For more information about silicone’s unique applications and fabrication possibilities, visit our Silicone Rubber material page.
Posted by Mike Burris on | Comments Off on Material of the Month: EPDM Rubber
Highly Resistant and Versatile: A Solution for Everyday and Specialty Applications
This blog post is the third installment of a new CGR Products content series called “Material of the Month.” The series spotlights some of the unique materials that CGR works with, as well as their common applications.
Material selection can make all the difference when bringing a simple design idea to life. From cross linked polyethylene (XLPE) to acrylic foam tapes, our Material of the Month series highlights the benefits of these unique materials. This week, we’re featuring EPDM rubber.
What is EPDM Rubber?
Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber, also known as synthetic rubber, is a smooth elastomer used in a wide variety of both specialty and general-purpose applications. It is resistant to heat, weather, and steam, and also functions as an excellent electrical insulator.
Benefits and Uses
EPDM rubber is exceptionally resistant to heat, oxidation, electricity, ozone, weather aging, and polar solvents such as alcohol, water, ketones, alkalines, and diluted acids. The water resistance and insulating qualities make EPDM rubber a popular choice for cable-jointing and other electrical applications.
EPDM rubber’s most frequent use is in seals for automotive vehicle windows, doors, and trunks, as well as cold-room doors, such as a refrigerator. The material’s strong insulating properties help to prevent water, heat, or cold from entering the sealed environment.
Other common uses of EPDM rubber include:
Automotive weather stripping
Tubing and hoses
Belts
Glass-run channels
Washers
Custom Fabrication at CGR
At CGR Products, we offer smooth, black commercial EPDM sheet rubber with thicknesses ranging from 1/16” to 1/2” and a PSI of 725. Our precision die cutting, knife cutting, and waterjet cutting services can trim synthetic rubber sheets to fit the exact shape and size required for your application.
Posted by Mike Burris on | Comments Off on Material of the Month: Acrylic Foam Tapes
VHB Tapes can replace mechanical fasteners, liquid adhesives and more
This blog is the first in a new CGR Products content series titled “Material of the Month.” The series will spotlight some of the unique materials and their applications that CGR works with.
Our first material on the list is acrylic foam tape.
What is acrylic foam tape?
CGR handles and converts a wide range of acrylic foam tapes manufactured by 3M. Very high bond (VHB) tapes can act as a fastener in place of mechanical fasteners, liquid adhesives, and more in certain scenarios.
The closed-cell foam is viscoelastic, utilizing energy-absorbing, and stress-relaxing properties. VHB can also conform to the irregularities of all rigid substrates, even when there might be a slight mismatch, while maintaining high internal strength.
Benefits and Uses
Acrylic foam provides outstanding strength and durability for even the most demanding applications. It offers an instant and permanent bond for both static and dynamic forces in exterior and extreme conditions. The material can absorb shock against wind, vibrations and other high performance stresses.
In tests, the VHB tapes yielded 92% retention of peel adhesion after the roll was aged for more than 5 years at 150°F. Initial tack and liner release properties were still excellent, proving VHB’s ability to tolerate long-term exposure to periodically elevated temperatures.
In addition, the all-acrylic construction of these tapes offers:
Resistance to extreme temperatures, UV light, moisture, and solvents
Sealing against environmental conditions
Prevention against bi-metallic corrosion
Elimination of pull-through, dimpling, and weld distortion
Custom Fabrication at CGR
As a 3M Preferred Converter, the CGR team has years of experience customizing acrylic foam tapes to fit specific shapes, sizes, and profiles for different projects. Our precision die cutting services, including rotary and flatbed die cutting, as well as die-less knife cutting can deliver custom kiss-cut parts on a continuous roll or pad, ready to use.
To access performance data and learn how 3M VHB tape can benefit your application, visit our library of technical data on acrylic foam tapes.
Posted by CGR Products on | Comments Off on Chemical Resistance 101: Ensure Your Component Can Resist the Chemicals It’s Exposed to
Prevent degradation to your application with a Chemical Compatibility Guide
Each and every elastomer material — and family of materials — comes with specific capabilities.
Elastomers demonstrate resistance to harmful chemicals and fluids, but they vary greatly in performance depending upon the material in question. It’s crucial to the success of a project to prevent failure or degradation from chemical exposure by choosing an elastomer with the right resistance properties.
For example, both Natural Rubber (NR) and Butyl are classed as General Purpose, Non-Oil-Resistant elastomers. But their performance is very different.
Natural Rubber is resistant to most moderate chemicals, wet or dry, including organic acids, alcohols, ketones and aldehydes. It is generally attacked by strong Acids, fats, oils, greases, and most hydrocarbons.
Butyl, however, resists animal and vegetable oils, greases, and strong and oxidizing chemicals. It is attacked by petroleum solvents, coal tar solvents, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Having a Chemical Compatibility Guide like CGR’s on file is helpful for breaking out these particular traits so you can choose the proper elastomer more efficiently. The chart can be used to rule out any elastomers with undesirable vulnerabilities for your project, covering information such as:
Types of elastomers and their ASTM designations
The chemicals that each elastomer material resists
The chemicals that degrade the materials
And more
CGR Products specializes in cutting and fabricating flexible, non-metallic materials into custom parts, shapes, sizes and forms for markets of all kinds. We work with an immense range of materials, including acrylics, adhesives, nitrile, neoprene, polyurethane, and many more.
Download your copy of our Ultimate Chemical Compatibility Guide from our resource library today, or call the team to discuss your particular project.
