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Bond Failures and Products Opening
Bonds Are Failing or Products Are Opening
When a bond does not hold, the first question is why.
A failed bond can appear immediately on the production line or later during storage, shipping, temperature exposure, or customer use. Products may spring open, separate, lift, unwind, delaminate, or simply fail to stay together as intended.
The adhesive may be the cause—but it is only one part of the application.
What Can Cause a Bond to Fail?
Possible causes may include:
An adhesive that does not match the substrate
Coated, printed, recycled, dusty, or contaminated materials
Changes in paper, board, film, plastic, wood, foam, or other substrates
Insufficient or inconsistent adhesive application
Excessive adhesive application
Inadequate compression or compression time
Incorrect open time or set speed
Adhesive temperature outside the proper operating range
Substrate temperature or moisture
Changes in line speed or application equipment
Environmental conditions during production, storage, or distribution
A finished product being exposed to conditions the adhesive was not designed to withstand
Common symptoms can include corrugated boxes or cartons opening, tubes unwinding, laminated materials separating, labels lifting, components pulling apart, or bonds that appear acceptable during production but fail later.
HAR helps customers examine the complete application rather than immediately assuming the adhesive itself is defective.
We look at what is being bonded, the adhesive being used, how it is applied, the equipment and operating conditions, compression, production speed, and what the finished bond must withstand.
Sometimes the solution is a different adhesive. Sometimes it is an application adjustment, equipment issue, material change, or another part of the process.
Products opening, separating, or failing in production or in the field? Let’s examine the bond, materials, and process together.
Why Manufacturers Contact HAR About Bond Failures
Cases, cartons, mailers, tubes, labels, laminations, or assembled products are opening or separating.
A bond looks acceptable during production but fails during storage, shipping, temperature exposure, or customer use.
Adhesive is not bonding consistently to coated, printed, recycled, dusty, or difficult substrates.
A material or supplier change has created a bond problem that did not exist before.
Faster production speeds have changed available open time, set time, drying time, or compression time.
Bond quality varies from shift to shift, season to season, or production run to production run.
More adhesive is being applied to compensate for an unreliable bond without solving the underlying problem.
The manufacturer is experiencing rejects, rework, customer complaints, or field failures related to adhesive performance.
The company needs help determining whether the problem involves the adhesive, substrate, equipment, application pattern, compression, temperature, or another process condition.
The current adhesive or equipment supplier is addressing only one part of the problem instead of evaluating the complete application.
