Sealing
The aim of the sealing process is to avoid or at least significantly reduce the exchange of gases by sealing off spatially defined areas. Alongside classic sealing methods such as soldering, flanging or cementing with putty, organic, high-polymer materials have also become firmly established over the past 50 years, making many common processes and procedures possible today.
Wet-applied sealants have considerable advantages over pre-prepared sealants. These include the following:
- They develop an adhesive bond to the substrates, meaning that they can also move under tensile force without losing their function.
- They easily balance out inaccuracies in manufacturing.
- They can be moulded, meaning that they can be adapted to fit complex geometrical structures, thus enabling additional freedom of design.
- No scrap is created.
- A very wide range of materials with varying raw material bases is available on the market. From these, the most suitable product for the application in question can be selected, in terms of function, substrates and compatibility with contact components.
Reactive polymer sealants are used in a wide range of applications:
- In construction, for joints used in building construction and civil engineering, for sealing facades and roofing, sealing landfill sites and many other applications.
- In the construction supplies industry for manufacturing insulating glass, windows and doors, and for increasing resistance to break-ins.
- In the automotive industry for sealing seams on bodywork, for commercial vehicle superstructures and in the construction of carriages for rail vehicles.
- In ship construction, and many other fields.
One of the main focuses is often preventing water from entering. In certain cases, it is also important to prevent moisture, e.g. from the air or from neighbouring damp areas from entering. Particularly in the area of insulating glass, high demands are placed on airtightness, in order to keep in the noble gases contained within an insulating glass unit over several decades. In other areas, the main concern is preventing penetration of chemicals, for instance in order to protect the ground water.
Sealants need to fulfil these requirements over a long period of time, whilst simultaneously being exposed to environmental influences such as heat, light, dampness, harmful gases from the air, and contact with other materials. It takes precise analysis, intensive, systematic tests and many years of experience in order to fulfil this type of demand, and that is what KÖMMERLING stands for.