Advanced thread locking adhesive technology

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The consumption of thread locking adhesives has been growing rapidly over the past decade. The global market for this type of materials has increased by more than 250% from $160 million in 2008 to $420 million in 2014 with an aggregate annual growth rate of more than 20%. Thread locking products currently used in North America are solvent-based and are of environmental concern. Although solvent-based adhesives is a mature market, there is a significant appetite for new environmentally friendly water-based formulation with improved performance at a reduced cost. At the University of Toronto, we propose to develop a range of novel water-based thread locking adhesive formulations that eliminate the need for organic solvents. This project integrates leading edge concepts in microencapsulation technology, polymer chemistry, and material science. Such products will offer a significant cost reduction compared to competing commercial solvent-based products. Our novel thread locking adhesive materials will be more economic to use in fastener coating machines. This improvement in performance can translate to an estimated 45% cost saving for the end users by applying a lower amount of micro encapsulated resins or initiators to achieve the same specifications compared to the available products. This project will advance the current state of thread locking technology and expand the business offering of our industry partner. Our novel encapsulating materials are expected to find widespread applications in the production of fasteners for the automotive, construction, wind power, marine and aerospace industries. Our industry partner, PHST Tech Canada Ltd., is a leader in supplying high quality automotive fasteners in the North American market with over 20 years of experience. PHSTs expertise in working with major international suppliers in East Asia, specifically Taiwan, has solidified its role in the automotive industry. PHST has also designed and installed over 15 cold foiling fastener factories, internationally. For its longstanding contributions to the fastener industry, PHST has been recognized by the Fasters World Magazine and the Taiwan Fastener's Association. PHST has the technological know-how and marketing channels to effectively implement this technology and enhance its competitiveness in the global market. Successful completion of this project will allow our industry partner to hire up to 10 additional employees and to increase its revenue by more than $1 M over the next 5 years. PHST has already identified more than 20 manufacturing facilities in Ontario who will benefit from products and procedures that will be developed under this research project. In addition, PHST had preliminary discussions with two major Ontario companies that expressed their interest in evaluating our novel products and introducing them to the automotive industry.