Today’s megatrends such as e-mobility, sustainability, automatization and digitalization create a fast changing environment and ask for innovative new bonding solutions. Adhesives and sealants belong to the core business of Sika since decades with a strong R&D setup globally. Sika is a global technology leader in elastic and structural adhesives and sealants offering innovative and enhanced solutions for novel joining methods. Bonding is a powerful way to replace welding, screws, bolts and nails and add secondary functions like sealing, dampening or compensation of surface irregularities at the same time.
"Sika takes pride in providing a wide selection of adhesives and sealants that are ideal even for the toughest jobs – in construction, industry and automotive. As the importance of sustainability continues to grow across industries, Sika develops technologies that give priority to performance and to the transition to economies that are low carbon, resource efficient and future oriented. This approach has a growing impact on product formulations but also on production, packaging, and recycling options." Urs Jaeger, Global Head Technology - Adhesive Systems
Adhesive Systems - Sika Technologies
Sika's wide and fundamental knowledge, the close proximity to customers, and new material research allows the R&D team to master future sealing and bonding challenges with innovative, smart product solutions. In addition to elastic and structural adhesives, sealants, pretreatments and foams, Sika develops potting materials and resins for composite manufacturing. Sika owns all relevant reactive technologies like polyurethane, silane terminated polymers, silicones, epoxy, acrylate or physical drying technologies like hotmelts, solvent based or water based systems applying Sika's high standards on safety and sustainability.
The high performance, versatility and durability of polyurethane sealants and adhesives makes them suitable for numerous applications in construction and industrial environments. Sika is recognized as the worldwide technology leader in 1C polyurethane sealants and adhesives (Sikaflex®, SikaTack® and SikaBond®), and develops innovative new technologies such as i-Cure® or PowerCure®, but also Curing-by-Design® and Sika Powerflex® for our 2C polyurethane products SikaForce®. These products offer unique performances well serving the megatrends in the industries and offer value added for our customers.
Polyurethanes being Sika’s leading technology for sealants and adhesives, they outperform other technologies like SMPs and Silicones for most application fields. With Purform® Sika has developed a new backbone that further enhances the properties of a polyurethane. Sikaflex® Purform® adhesives and sealants have an ultra-low free monomeric diisocyanate content, in addition to their other product specific advantages. Users of the Purform® technology benefit from the unique performance of polyurethane, whilst eliminating the need for specific REACH health & safety training, and significantly reducing. The exposure of users will be reduced and limited to an absolute minimum.
Silane-terminated polyurethane (STP) polymers combine the strengths of polyurethane and silane chemistry. These moisture-curing adhesives and sealants tailored to specific applications show excellent adhesion properties on most substrates. Furthermore, STP adhesives and sealants like Sikaflex© show fast curing, good overpaintability and very good chemical resistance.
The characteristic properties complement the Sika adhesive and sealant portfolio enabling us to offer good and sustainable solutions. The Sika STP product range meets all relevant standards and regulations for construction and industry.
While cost driven low performance systems negatively shaped the reputation of water-based systems in the market, Sika goes a different way: With the invention of the Co-Elastic Technology (CET), the company implemented a paradigm change, and demonstrated that water-based systems with highest performance levels can be realized. Among other systems, Sika developed a durable, highly flexible sealant with high movement capability, excellent adhesion range, and once cured with excellent resistance to water immersion.
All-rounder in construction and durable bonding for industrial applications: Sika offers a wide range of different epoxy adhesives. In the construction market Sika’s epoxy products are known under the brand Sikadur®. These products are used in a variety of applications, like primers, adhesives, crack fillers, injections, and specialty solutions, for example to bond segments of bridges or to reinforce constructions in combination with carbon-fiber composites. The products are easy to apply, adhere on most materials used in construction, show a long open time and are therefore perfectly suited for these applications.
The epoxy technology is also used in demanding industrial applications. With the Sika SmartCore® toughening technology, the company proposes SikaPower® products depicting highest strength without the typical brittleness of epoxy resins. Such products are best in class solutions for long durability bonding under static or dynamic loads as required in composite applications like wind blade bonding or in metal bonding applications like in transportation, where it is a preferred solution instead of welding. Sika provides a range of innovative solutions for crash durable, semi-crash, structural, hem-flange, anti-flutter, mastic and sealing applications that can either be offered as 2 component systems or a heat curing 1 component adhesives.
Sika’s acrylate technology enables the design of fast curing structural adhesives. Acrylate products are used in construction, i.e. as anchor fixing solutions (Sika AnchorFix®) due the high mechanical properties, fast handling strength and moisture independent curing. With the SikaFast® product portfolio, Sika offers fast curing, low odor, structural-elastic adhesives for industrial applications. These products show a broad adhesion range and excellent adhesion on glass, metals and plastics. Especially on plastics, the adhesion and durability of acrylates is unique.
The Sika Sikasil® product range is based on silicone chemistry, well known in the market for its highly elastic behavior, wide adhesion range and excellent UV- and heat stability. Therefore the properties remain almost unchanged over a wide temperature range, while exposed to chemicals or to sunlight. This makes the inorganic silicones ideal candidates for weather seal applications or the use in the fenestration industry. Silicones are available as 1 component moisture curing products but also as fast curing 2 component adhesives and our alkoxy curing technology fulfills the high standards on safety and sustainability in the market.
Main Application Fields Construction, Industry and Automotive
Industry
Within many fast paced industries like the transportation industry, modern adhesives and sealants are used to bond, seal or reinforce structures. Main drivers for the use of adhesives are megatrends like light weight designs, energy efficiency, process automatization, safety and individualization (enable new design). Developing in close cooperation with customers is not limited to best-in-class products, but also ensuring top performance throughout the design, prototyping, validation and full production phases.
Construction
Sealing is essential for water tight and energy efficient building envelopes. Sika offers tailor-made solutions with a portfolio of best-in-class Sikaflex®, Sikasil® or SikaBoom® products for any building. Additionally, fire protection solutions are gaining importance due to urbanization, enhanced awareness and new regulations. Refurbishment and maintenance of ageing infrastructure and buildings is another challenge the market is faced with. Sika offers solutions with the Sikadur®, Sika Carbodur® or SikaBond® product ranges.
Automotive
In today’s complex and fast-changing automotive world, the drive to build lighter, stronger, safer, quieter and greener vehicles of tomorrow starts with strategic suppliers that work together with the OEMs to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Sika is a trusted, leading innovator and supplier of automotive bonding, sealing, damping and reinforcing solutions for vehicle BIW, body structure, interior and exterior components.
