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Tape Glossary | How to Measure Adhesion | How to Make a Pressure Sensitive Tape

Glossary

Abrasion Resistance: The ability of a surface to resist rubbing or other frictional forces without being worn away.

Accelerated Aging: Artificially accelerating the natural aging process in order to predict product performance of pressure sensitive tapes as well as individual substrates & adhesives.

Adhesion: The bond between an adhesive and a surface. Peel adhesion is measured by applying a tape specimen to a smooth stainless steel surface. The tension required to peel the tape from the steel yields a measurable adhesion value which is expressed in English units (oz./1”) or metric units (Newtons).

Caliper: The thickness of tape, measured as the perpendicular distance between the opposite surfaces and expressed in English units thousandths of an inch) or metric units (millimeters).

Creep: The creep of a pressure sensitive adhesive is regarded as the movement over time of a tape specimen on a surface after stress is suddenly applied and maintained as a constant.

Cross Linking: The curing of an adhesive compound by physically bridging the molecular chains of the compound to increase its temperature, shear, chemical and solvent resistant properties.

Elongation: The measurement of a tape specimen’s increase in length as a result of being stretched under constant tension.

Lathe Cutter: Equipment used to slit log rolls into narrower widths. (A.K.A. Baloney Slitter)

Legging: The stringing-out (filamentation) of a pressure sensitive adhesive when a tape or label is drawn away from a surface, its release liner, or its matrix.

Log Rolls: A wide width roll on which a specific length has been wound. Log rolls are normally slit to narrower widths on a lathe cutter.

Plasticizer Migration: A movement of a plasticizing ingredient through a mass from one surface to another surface. Plasticized PVC films often contain ingredients which can migrate into the adhesive coating of a tape causing it to soften and lose its cohesive strength.

Pressure Sensitive: A category of dry adhesives which are aggressively tacky at room temperature, adhering to surfaces firmly, with now more than light pressure.

Release Liner: The component of the pressure sensitive construction which functions as a protective carrier for the pressure sensitive adhesive. Release liners prevent a tape from sticking to itself. Also allows for Die-Cutting and label making.

Rewind Slitting: The conversion of plastic film, paper and adhesive coated materials from wide width, long length rolls into narrower width rolls of the same or shorter lengths. The equipment used to convert these rolls will normally employ a razor, shear or score cutting mechanism.

Slitting: Slicing a tape log or master roll into narrower widths.
Substrate (backing): The surface to which an adhesive is applied in a tape construction.

Tensile Strength: The force required to break a sample specimen of tape. The resultant values are measure din units of pounds per inch of width or in Newtons per hundred millimeters. This property indicates the ability of a tape to withstand stress during its application and while it is in service.

U.V. Resistant: The ability of a tape to withstand the effects of direct sunlight for extended periods of time. Adhesives and the substrates onto which they are coated are subject to degradation by ultra violet light during outdoor exposure.

Weatherometer: Laboratory equipment that uses special U.V., emitting light bulbs to expose materials to heat, humidity and accelerated weathering conditions in timed cycles. This procedure is valuable in estimating the ultimate performance characteristics of a product.