TANK ADHESIVES & SEALANTS
Tank adhesives and sealants are widely used both in Aerospace and many other industries, from automotive and industrial assemblies to footwear, construction, and protective coatings. Those designed for tanks storing fuels and other hazardous substances are applied to storage surfaces to create a resistance barrier preventing leaks. Fuel tank adhesives & sealants are typically used to create air-tight seals in fuel lines, seal the rivets and joints of fuel tanks, as a coating and sealant to protect station floors, on workshops and factory floors, etc.
Tank adhesives/sealants are based on different compounds (chemical composition) and respective prices. Their selection heavily relies on the material of the tank they shall be applied and the sealing content (water, oil, different fuels like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels, etc).
For aircraft integral fuel tanks and rigid removable fuel tanks made of metals (typically stainless steel or aluminum alloy) and composites, two-part Polysulfide rubber sealants are often the preferred choice due to their flexibility, and extreme resistance to gasoline, ethanol and many other chemicals. Polysulfide sealants are not formulated and cannot generally be used on flexible tanks (bladders) made of plastic substrates (such as PU/TPU) as they lack good adhesion to most plastics. In this case, sealants, commonly based on Polyurethane (PU) formulations are selected, although not so chemically resistant as Polysulfide ones.
The selection and application of a sealant is further discussed below and should always conform to the tank material and the instructions of the respective tank manufacturer. Other factors such as sealant cost, weight (with some sealants being more lightweight than others) and other properties (such as their elasticity or temperature resistance, biocompatibility and others) also affect the selection of the sealant.
Sealant Compatibility with Tank material and appropriate surface treatment. Sealant must be compatible with aluminum, stainless steel, plastic or composite materials from which tanks are commonly made. Poor adhesion and sealant failure may result from poor tank surface treatment (e.g lack of use of clearing chemicals) prior to sealant application, and/or sealant/tank material incompatibility.
Sealant Application Tooling. Appropriate tools such as applicator guns, brushes and PPE should be used as per sealant producer's instructions.
Sealant Curing Time. Aircraft fuel tank sealants typically cure between 24 and 72 hours depending on the sealant type, ambedient temperature, humidity, and layer thickness.
Sealant Operating Temperatures. Applied sealant temperaures should be within the temperature range of their intended application. Many sealants operate between -65° F and 250° F (-54° C and 121° C). Extreme temperatures can affect sealant elasticity and adherence, causing leaks and failures.
Due to the high variety of adhesives and sealants that can be supplied and their respective documetation, certain products can be found under the respective listings of their manufacturers (as for example those offered by PPG Aerospace® / PRC-DeSoto®, FLAMEMASTER Chem Seal® ) while others are listed here. For additional information please contact us. Those listed in this presentation are briefly described below.
3M™ AC-350 Aerospace Sealants
3M™ Aerospace Sealant AC-350 is a family of intermediate density, fast-curing, polysulfide fuel tank sealants that provides outstanding resistance to aviation fuels and petroleum chemicals. 3M™ AC-350 Class A and B variants maintain bond strength on many metal, composite and coated substrates and help meet a range of applications for integral fuel tank and fuselage sealing.
Am-140e One-component Polyurethane Adhesive
Am-140e by Shandong North Modern Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. is an one-component polyurethane adhesive with medium to high viscosity and medium to high strength. It has moderate viscosity and good thixotropy for easy construction. After curing, it has high bonding strength and good flexible sealing properties. Can be used for permanent elastic bonding sealing in a range of applications including windshield bonding of small vehicles, bus skin bonding, automobile windshield repair, etc. ASTM D5893 compliant for automotive & aircraft fuel tank sealing applications. Compatible with different substrates including glass, fiberglass, steel, aluminum alloy (including painted), etc.