When researching the right adhesive for your application, you will find thousands of options available. Your search for the right solution has led you here; to Aerok 8040.

Now you want to learn more.

Aerok 8040 is a structural adhesive manufactured by us, Forgeway. We have been solving complex bonding challenges for over 25 years. We manufacture a range of adhesives and sealants. Aerok 8040 is one of them.

In this article, we are going to help you understand Aerok 8040. By the end of the article, you’ll understand Aerok 8040’s characteristics. You will also understand the advantages and disadvantages of Aerok 8040.

The article will give you a better idea of whether Aerok 8040 is the right structural adhesive for you. Or, if you prefer to watch the video version, just watch below.

What is Aerok 8040?

Aerok 8040 is a two-component structural epoxy adhesive. It comes in a 2:1 ratio and mixes to form a grey structural adhesive. Aerok 8040 has an extended open time and will eventually cure to form a very strong and rigid bond between most metals, composites or plastics.

The open time of 90 minutes is one of the main characteristics of this adhesive. As a result, it is very popular in the composite and product assembly industries.

Companies usually purchase Aerok 8040 in cartridges ranging from 50ml, 200ml, and 400ml. However, some companies choose to take bulk packaging options such as drums.

To provide a short answer, Aerok 8040 is a structural epoxy adhesive with an extended open time.

What are the advantages of Aerok 8040?

Now that you have a better idea of Aerok 8040, we are going to assess the advantages of using this adhesive.

Aerok 8040 has High Strength

Strength is often overrated in an adhesive. A topic we regularly discuss in our articles. Nonetheless, it’s still a very important characteristic. Especially when you try to create a strong bond.

Aerok 8040 has high strength. To put the strength into perspective, it can achieve tensile strengths of 20 MPa. This is more than the 15 MPa ‘threshold’ for structural adhesives.

Whilst other structural adhesives can reach up to 60 MPa, the strength of Aerok 8040 is more than sufficient for composite and metal bonding.

In fact, when bonding some composite materials, Aerok 8040 will be stronger than the material itself.

The extended open time of Aerok 8040 ensures precision

When companies look for an adhesive, they often look for the fastest-curing adhesive available. After all, it seems likely that a faster curing adhesive will help speed up production?

We dove into this topic and uncovered that this isn’t actually the case. A faster curing adhesive often won’t help speed up production.

Aerok 8040 is a slower-curing product. It has an open time of around 90 minutes and will reach handling strength in around 9 hours. This is slow compared to other structural adhesives.

Nonetheless, the slower curing is actually an advantage.

It allows product assembly and automotive manufacturers to perform precise applications. They don’t need to worry about the adhesive curing before parts are put into the correct place.

The operators can reposition the materials for up to 90 minutes. This extra time maximises the amount of time available for operators to get it right.

Aerok 8040 is very durable

The strength of this product is obviously a massive benefit. However, if that strength deteriorates after exposure to harsh conditions, it isn’t much use.

That’s why adhesive durability is so important.

The base chemistry of epoxy gives Aerok 8040 an advantage. It ensures it is more capable of withstanding harsh factors like hot and humid environments or harsh chemicals.

Temperature resistance is often a misunderstood term. But if you’re bonding an environment that will face exposure to elevated temperatures, you’ll need to make sure the strength doesn’t deteriorate to the point of failure.

Aerok 8040 can maintain up to 3 MPa at temperatures of 150℃. This temperature resistance makes it a suitable option for infrequent elevated temperatures.

Some adhesives will deteriorate and weaken after exposure to harsh environments. Aerok 8040 is resilient and will remain strong enough to keep your materials in place.

What are the disadvantages of Aerok 8040?

Whilst most adhesive companies don’t like to ‘expose’ the disadvantages of their products, we like to provide a full picture. We want to make sure you’re aware of what some companies don’t like about Aerok 8040.

The adhesive can take too long to reach full cure

Whilst we highlighted the extended open time as an advantage of Aerok 8040, the knock-on effect on the cure time can be an issue for some.

A full cure of Aerok 8040 can take up to seven days. This is of course dependent on temperature and environmental conditions. Nonetheless, reaching a full cure will take a long time.

And yes, you often won’t need to wait for the adhesive to reach a full cure in order to move the structure to the next stage of production. You’ll only need the adhesive to reach handling strength.

But with a handling strength of around 9 hours, some companies can’t wait for Aerok 8040. They need an adhesive that can cure much faster to help production throughput.

Aerok 8040 doesn’t have much flexibility

We often explain the importance of strength versus flexibility in adhesives. It’s a topic that divides opinion. People often underrate the importance of flexibility.

Nonetheless, flexibility is often an important characteristic of a bond. This is particularly the case when the structure is going to experience movement and vibrations.

Aerok 8040 has low flexibility. The elongation of 11% is below what we would consider as ‘impact resistant’. (A score between 15-50% would be impact resistant).

So if you’re bonding a structure that is likely to experience heavy movement (like boats, planes, or vehicles), you’ll likely need an adhesive that has more flexibility than Aerok 8040.

Aerok 8040 will require a prepared surface

Most adhesives will need clean and dry surfaces to ensure a strong bond. Nonetheless, some adhesives need further preparation like abrading, priming, or treating (like flame/plasma).

Without this surface preparation, some adhesives will struggle to ensure a strong bond between the materials. This often presents an issue for operators. The added step in the bonding process can go wrong, resulting in a faulty bond.

With Aerok 8040, you will often need to lightly abrade and then clean the surfaces before bonding. This will help ensure the maximum strength bond.

Whilst the abrasion process is very unlikely to go wrong, some manufacturers prefer to use adhesives that require less surface preparation. Acrylic (MMA) and Hybrid (MS) Polymer adhesives both require less preparation.

However, these adhesives will often lack other of Aerok 8040’s qualities (like open time, durability, and strength).

It comes down to balance. How much of an issue is the surface preparation going to cause in your production process? If the benefits outweigh the need for surface preparation, Aerok 8040 is definitely worth the extra work.

Aerok 8040; is it the right adhesive for your application?

Now that you have a better idea of Aerok 8040, it’s time to look at your application. Will Aerok 8040 fit the bill? Finding the right adhesive is rarely simple.

Here at Forgeway, we’ve been helping companies solve their complex bonding challenges for over 25 years. We know that a strong and durable bond is impossible without a strong and durable adhesive.

If you need a structural adhesive that can withstand harsh environmental conditions and has a long open time, Aerok 8040 is likely the perfect fit for you.

But, if your production process needs a faster curing product without the need for surface preparation or your bond needs to withstand movement, you’ll likely need to look at alternative adhesives.

Clicking the link below will take you to the technical datasheet of Aerok 8040 if you want to do more research.