We stick urban art together

Modern art is such an integral part of life, the interweb and everything, that some exciting projects are taking place – perhaps where they always have – at the borders between the street and the gallery. So it is even more interesting to find this kind of project dependant upon an advanced flexible epoxy adhesive such as IRS 2125.

Our story begins with The Baroness working over the summer with the Single Homeless Project at their suburban art workshops, involved with young, homeless and vulnerable people. Together with other artists, the group produced a body of work that was exhibited at the Signal Gallery. The main piece produced by The Baroness was a VW bonnet in mosaicked ceramic with our IRS 2125. As The Baroness explains:

Since I have used this glue before I am entirely confident of its strength and flexibility which are important factors in large artworks that are moved around a lot. This piece was inspired by my time at the Urban Arts Project and used facial imagery from these workshops.

A Vauxhall bonnet was also mosaicked by the group as a co-operative exercise. At the end of the project and to celebrate the success of it, the SHP organized a one-day event called Artival after which the VW bonnet itself went on display at the new Mutate Britain Exhibition as part of their One Foot in the Grove presentation.

And so our story ends with a high performance 2 part epoxy adhesive – originally developed for cable harness assemblies, wiring, cable joints, terminations, electronics, structural bonding and downhole/oil well operations – now decorating one of London’s fast growing gallery venues. As a user footnote we return to The Baroness, who was delighted with the convenience and usability of IRS 2125

I had around 10 50gram cartridges which were easily applied with standard nozzles – workability and setting times were brilliant!

Light weight, low density epoxy potting compound is RF transparent

In some applications the weight of potting electronics to protect mechanically or environmentally can be a very significant part of the overall weight of installed equipment – sometimes this can be a problem. We have come up with some very advanced light-weight epoxy potting technology which brings the density right down to 0.6. IRS 2012 Light Weight Low Density Epoxy Potting Compound is an exciting development for weight critical applications, e.g. in aerospace or autosport, and is potentially of great significance for mainstream automotive systems and even railway systems where it is increasingly recognized that weight saving leads to fuel savings and a reduced carbon footprint.

IRS 2012 is not only very light on account of its advanced fillers, but is also very RF transmissive and is effectively transparent to radio signals, with excellent electrical properties, low cure shrinkage, good chemical resistance and good mechanical properties – highly suitable in fact for potting of aerials and related equipment.

The black two-part IRS 2012 is available in twin pack sachets which may be mixed and transferred to a syringe for precision application if required.

Sea lion studies with Araldite 2012

Very little is known about the diving behaviour of young sea lions who flourish on the Galapagos islands - which is where Araldite® 2012 comes in. Araldite 2012 was found to be the best adhesive to attach recorders and study repeated dives of sea lions down to 350–500 metres. The adhesive has to withstand the heavy impact of 100kg sea lions rolling, scratching, hitting rocks - not to mention the salt water of the Pacific ocean and the strong sun radiation.

A cooperation between the Galapagos Sea Lion Project, University of Bielefeld, Germany, the National Park Service of Galapagos and the Charles Darwin Research Station, Galapagos, is conducting the project and selected Araldite 2012 to attach time-depth-recorder (TDRs) to the sea lions to ensure that the recorders remained fixed whatever the conditions.

Preliminary results from the ongoing project showed that juvenile Galapagos sea lions dive up to a maximum of 350m, and adult sea lion females up to a maximum of 502m, which is an amazing record and makes the Galapagos sea lion the deepest diving sea lion species. And all of this new insight into sea lions has been made possible because the researchers were able to monitor what was happening with the use of Araldite 2012 and the recorders.

Jana Jeglinski, from the Galapogus Sea Lion project, said:

Araldite 2012 provided reliable deployment and retrieval of our dive recorders. Araldite 2012 ensured that our recorders did not fall off, whatever the depths and conditions, until we wanted to retrieve them which gave us the most wonderful data.

Araldite® 2012 is part of the Araldite® 2000 plus range. It is a fast cure, multi-purpose epoxy adhesive with extremely high toughness, combined with chemical and water/ humidity resistance making it an excellent choice for the sea lion project. Its novel use demanded the maximum performance in very unusual circumstances. It can be used in a wide variety of industrial applications where there is exposure to chemicals and water.

The success of Araldite 2012 in fixing the recorders to the sea lions provides answers about the natural history of the animals, including details such as where they dive and what they feed on which provides valuable implications for the management and conservation of the species.

Five new Araldite structural adhesives launched

We are in the process of bringing into our range five new Araldite structural adhesives, which join the Araldite 2000 Plus line of products. Download the latest Selector Guide to get an introduction to the new adhesives and their capabilities. Maybe you have a bonding application which we can solve?

Mixing "nano"s: nanotubes, nanofibres, nanoceramics...

In the arena of high technology and high performance materials the uniform dispersal of nano-sized particles in materials such as resin is extremely difficult work. Traditional methods have significant problems – consequently we are pleased to announce a solution in the form of the THINKY ARV-310 Mixer.

The ARV-310 and its larger capacity sibling the ARV-5000 both utilise proven Thinky planetary mixing technology with the added advantage of a vacuum environment. Their powerful acceleration enables uniform mixing as well as simultaneous dispersion and de-aerating for highly active nano-sized particles such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) or particles in epoxy or silicone, nano-ceramic in water, nanofibers in polymer, nanogold balls, yag phosphor in silicone, or for organic materials.

The Thinky ARV units are addressing the really difficult mixing problems in laboratories around the world. Their bi-directional action does not enfold air while the new vacuum environment facility removes existing air or other gases. A good example is CNT dispersion in epoxy, where compared to hand mixing the Thinky process leads to better than halving resistivity in the final material. This is a technology especially suited to small/medium laboratory type quantities.

The Thinky planetary mixing process is considered ideal for nano-polymers, ultra-fine semiconductor elements, molecular devices, biogenic materials, protein solar batteries, organic ELs, intelligent ceramics, functional materials, materials for high-technology electronic devices, carbon nanotubes, nano-carbon black, nano-composite, etc.

CNT dispersion in a viscous epoxy - SEM image (x20,000)

Alternative art adhesive

Baroness Carrie von Reichardt and her partner were asked by the Mutoid Waste Co to be involved in a show called Mutate Britain, where a number of well-known artists where each given pieces of a WW2 war plane and asked to let their creative juices flow. Explained the Baroness:

We were actually given two panels and had the only ceramic ones on show. One was called - Love the USA and the other was called Drop knickers, not bombs. One side was straightforward mosaic; the other side had tiles that had been covered in ceramic transfers and re-fired applied. These panels were drilled and hanged on display as part of this five storey show. Not a tile fell off. Rock solid thanks to your wonderful glue.

The adhesive so enthused over by the Baroness was provided us - we were able to fill the technical gap between ceramic tiles and WW2 aircraft panels so that resulting art pieces went together easily and were strong enough to be reliably displayed. Our application engineer suggested IRS 2125 Flexible Epoxy Adhesive with manual dispensing/mixing. IRS 2125 is a high performance black resin system. Its combination of flexibility and high adhesive strength lends itself to many high technology bonding, sealing and insulating applications. A two-part system with a simple 1:1 mix ratio, it is supplied in a convenient side-by-side double syringe cartridge, complete with static mixing nozzles generally used for cable harness assemblies, cable joints and terminations, heat-shrink sealing, electronics and structural bonding - it proved ideal. And not for the first time!

IRS 2125 is an excellent all-purpose adhesive, especially where long-term substrate flexibility is an important factor, giving high shear and peel strength with tough bonds that withstand vibration and flex. It has outstanding chemical and fluid resistance, including moisture, diesel and fuel oils, while being able to bond metal, glass, wood, rubber and many plastics. It will operate at temperatures of up to 150°C and can seal to IP68 for continuous immersion. It is also proven in downhole and oil well operations.

muTATE BRITAIN opened on 20th November 2008 in London’s largest non-corporate art space – a disused warehouse on Curtain Road, Shoreditch, where it provides an environment for emerging contemporary artists to showcase their material.

Making a fashion statement

You probably already know that products from Araldite can be found in almost all areas of life. But it may come as a bit of a surprise to you that products made of our advanced materials can also enhance your personal glamor. Working closely with Swarovski, the Austria-based manufacturer of crystal jewelry, Huntsman has again demonstrated the versatility of its Araldite® 2000 PLUS adhesives range, this time in a highly decorative application.

Araldite 2011 high performance adhesive is now being used in the Enlightened™-Swarovski Elements product brand, to enhance the bonding of marcasite stones into a variety of pieces—including rings, earrings, brooches, necklaces and cufflinks. Most of Swarovski's customers now choose Araldite 2011 two component epoxy paste as their preferred adhesive for bonding marcasite stones, as it gives the jewelry an enhanced sparkle. These jewelers set a stunning total of around 500 million marcasite stones each year, worldwide.

Swarovski provides genuine marcasite stones — cut from Pyrite — for their customers, to produce many types of jewelry. By using Araldite 2011, they can even bond stones in the 1-2mm size range. Bonding with Araldite means there are no visible settings on the finished pieces — a feature not possible with traditional setting methods that use prongs and bezels.

We get stuck into the Love Truck

The problem involved a painted steel substrate, hand placed glass/ceramic tiles, substrate flexing and widely varying vibration over extended periods in outdoor conditions – in short a Tiki Love Truck! An unusual project even for us, but nonetheless as it proved, well within the capabilities of the adhere IRS 2125 Flexible Epoxy Adhesive.

The project was an Art Car – defined by Michael Trainer, Curator of Art Cars 2007 as “A drivable installation – any vehicle which has been re-imagined, re-styled, re-modeled, or completely metamorphosed by an artist into a transport of delight.” In this case it was conceived by Baroness von Reichardt as a Tiki Love Truck based around the tiki symbology of a large carved talisman in humanoid form, common to Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The Tiki Love Truck is a magical mosaic/ceramic adorned automobile, driven by two lovely hula girls who give out messages of love and peace as they drive by.

The base vehicle was a standard Nissan diesel pick-up truck to be covered in glass tile mosaics and ceramic Polynesian cultural images for the purpose of competing in art car parades – a major feature of the USA parade scene – but first revealed in the UK in Manchester 2007, where the Tiki Love Truck won the Makeover class alongside such vehicles as Crazy Golf – a VW Golf in grass effect with golfing participants, Bog Standard motorised bath tub, toilet and wash basin, Minnie 7 patchwork fabric covered Mini and Car Jack – a car removal robot wheeling away a Volvo like a wheelbarrow!

The Baroness googled "adhesives" and discussed the project with our technical advisors who suggested the adhere IRS 2125 Flexible Epoxy Adhesive – rapidly earning a reputation as a "stick-most-things-to-most-other-things" kind of adhesive in high performance specialist areas. It is a black epoxy resin system with a combination of flexibility and high adhesion strength on materials such as metal, glass, rubber and many plastics, including cable insulations and connector backshells at temperature up to 150°C. Originally developed for cable harnesses, fixing cables into connectors, IRS 2125 often solves problems where other adhesives are not suitable, offering relative flexibility and high strength adhesion for high technology bonding, sealing and insulating applications.

This suggestion proved to be a complete success over the 5 hours a day, 7 day installation and subsequently. Explains the Baroness, “As an artist I find the process of mosaic very therapeutic, hence the name of our organisation – the Treatment Rooms – and this adhesive certainly facilitated that process. It is just incredible – nice to use because you don’t have to mix it and with a convenient setting time. The tiles have been solid as a rock ever since. We have used the Love Truck for charity activities and will be taking it to Blackpool soon and then to Gateshead on New Years Eve.”

adhere IRS 2125 is flexible by epoxy standards, can seal to IP68 (continuous immersion) and it has a long shelf life (up to 18 months) and a pot life of 90 minutes at 23°C. Combined with excellent resistance to solvents such as de-icing fluid, petrol, oil and hydraulic fluid it really does what an adhesive should do – it produces tough bonds that withstand vibration and flexes sufficiently for many electronics, electrical and structural bonding applications.

This two-part system has a simple 1:1 mix ratio and is supplied in an easy to use side-by-side double syringe cartridge, complete with static mixing nozzles.

Pushing the boat out

An aluminium speedboat, built by the Dutch company Silvestris Haute Motive Concepts, is making use of structural bonding technology from Huntsman Advanced Materials. Martin de Bruijn, a designer at Silvestris, reveals that the design practices and lightweight materials used mean that the 23-foot boat weighs just 1500kg. The light weight is based on an aluminium space frame which forms the skeleton structure of the boat. It is riveted and bonded to the aluminium hull with Araldite 2015, an epoxy adhesive paste which cures at room temperature.

“When we began the project we were confident that the advantages of using adhesives in automotive engineering would transfer to a marine application”, says Martin de Bruijn. “It soon became apparent that the Araldite adhesives were the only products available that guaranteed strength, improved performance, and increased the durability of the design.”

Getting the gas out

Removing air bubbles from materials like epoxies and inks which you mix up yourself can be an irritation. Often some form of vacuum chamber is used to degas the mixture - it is time consuming and not easy!

One of the advantages of our Thinky ARE-250 Mixer is that it does not put air into the material whilst mixing - and then a degassing stage can remove what's left (down to micron levels). The planetary action mixes quickly and completely. The degassing mode is more effective than a simple centrifuge.

An epoxy resin, approximately 250,000cps
Before processing Countless microscopic air bubbles exist (60x magnified)
After 3 minutes "Mixing Mode" Only a few size 15μm air bubbles are visible
After 2.5 minutes "Degassing Mode" No air bubbles are visible under 60x microscope

Are you troubled with gas?