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Why You Should Use Predictive Data in Building Material Manufacturing

Construction companies and the manufacturers who build the parts and materials that create buildings are relying on adhesives more than ever.

When it comes to modern flooring, roofing, siding, windows, and wall construction, to make sure the outside stays out and the inside stays warm/cool/dry, contractors are heavily reliant upon adhesives and specialty coatings developed and created by building materials manufacturers.

Businesses that manufacture building products have a key challenge that is somewhat unique to their industry. When the product requires bonding, sealing, or coating at the point of installation, the success of that product is entirely up to the installation team. If the material is not installed correctly or, worse, does not arrive at the job site ready for installation due to a defect, this results in returns, loss in customer satisfaction, and potentially insurance claims. This is ESPECIALLY true when considering the conservative nature of the building industry to adopt new technologies.

Therefore, it is key that organizations control the controllable—product created at the plant. Manufacturers need to guarantee that building materials will withstand the beating that homes, commercial buildings, and any other type of construction go through on a daily basis, simply by dint of being exposed to weather and being used by people.

Buildings are sealed, held together, and painted thanks to adhesives and coatings specially formulated to meet high industry standards and ensure every structural part of the building will last for years and years without needing repair and seeing minimal wear.

To accomplish this, manufacturers need a way to prove the lifespan of their products during production quantitatively. Using data collected at strategic points of risk throughout the adhesion process, called Critical Control Points, manufacturers can gain a definitive, even predictive, understanding of how well their products will perform when actually used by contractors and builders.

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Polymeric Coatings and Bonding Applications in Construction

Every major aspect of building construction (and most of the minor ones, too) requires some kind of adhesive or coating.

To learn more about how to use analytical techniques to control the most critical surface properties of your materials, download our free eBook: The Manufacturer’s Roadmap to Eliminate Adhesion Issues in Production

Hydrophobic polymeric coatings and resins are a crucial part of sheathing and often go underappreciated. These often proprietary resins are sometimes mixed into the wood strips that are later pressed into the 4’ x 8’ boards used in flooring, roofing, and wall construction. Sheathing is a critical foundation for many structural aspects of a building, and manufacturers need to understand the impact on adhesion these coatings and resins have. They are vital to ensuring a waterproof exterior, and manufacturers need to be able to conduct production-level inspections that predict reliable performance on the job site.

Good adhesion in subflooring can guarantee floors that won’t creak. Strong bonds between glues and building materials reduce vibratory impacts throughout the structure, leading to a more sound construction for many years.

Performance tests produce high levels of scrap and take far longer than a quantitative evaluation of a hydrophobic coating. After determining surface condition tolerances, manufacturers can use a simple water contact angle measurement to determine exactly how hydrophobic a coating on sheathing is and be able to predict whether it would have an adverse effect on steps downstream in the adhesion process.

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Water contact angle measurements are decisive tests that utilize a tiny drop of water on the surface of a material that has been coated or built with hydrophobic characteristics. Measuring the extent to which the drop is repelled or attracted to the surface gives manufacturers a wealth of information about how their surfaces will react and bond with adhesives down the line.

The same goes for testing flashing tape for moisture sealing. Pressure-sensitive adhesives need to bond quickly and perfectly with substrates like sheathing, subflooring, and plastic or wooden window jambs. Being able to predict how well the adhesives on these tapes will adhere to the building material is paramount for manufacturers in developing high-performance products that contractors and builders will continually rely on.

The predictive analytics of a contact angle measurement put conclusive and meaningful data in the hands of manufacturers. Often, these measurements are already being used by companies when formulating their coatings, adhesives, and resins. But that is all taking place in a far-off development laboratory, and the factory just has to hope that it works how it’s supposed to. With fast, reliable measurements of surface characteristics that greatly matter to construction integrity but often go uncontrolled during production, manufacturers can easily test 100% of their materials and eliminate the risk of sending unsatisfactory products out into the market.

To learn more about how to use analytical techniques to control the most critical surface properties of your materials, download our free eBook: “The Manufacturer’s Roadmap to Eliminate Adhesion Issues in Production.” In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to begin assessing surface quality and protecting your adhesion process from unmonitored variables.

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