Tape Lab

Calculate, test and evaluate

Testing tapes and surfaces

Tapir Tapes has various methods for testing adhesive strength and measuring surface tension. This allows us to give specific advice for your customer-specific application.

Afera 5001

Afera 5001 is an internationally standardized 90° peel off test. This tests the adhesive strength of the tape in question compared to the related data sheet. This is done on a prescribed stainless steel surface. A test can also be done on the substrate of the relevant customer, so that the value can be compared with the data sheet. Following these standards is important to you as a user of self-adhesive tapes, because it helps assess the suitability of a tape for your application. This will be part of our advice.

Rolling ball

The rolling ball test method is used to measure the initial adhesive force. This means how much the tape wants to stick. This is also called the ‘bite’ or initial adhesion. However, this says nothing about the adhesive strength of the tape in question. The results of the test can be compared with specifications and standards included in the TDS (technical data sheet). This allows us to assess the tape’s suitability for certain applications.

Test inks

Testing with surface tension inks is important to ensure that we gain insight into the surface tension we are dealing with. The test method with the inks is shown in Dynes. A surface with 38 dynes (mN/m) is considered neutral. If a surface has a lower result, it will have to be treated, this can be done using various mechanical techniques (e.g. Corona) or chemical techniques (e.g. Primer 94 or Iguna Strong). What we want to prevent is that the tape generates no or too little adhesion to the surface to be adhered.

All this is done by a team of specialists, including our bonding experts.