Performance of Tape-Bonded Seams of EPDM Membranes: Comparison of the Peel Creep-Rupture Response of Tape-Bonded and Liquid-Adhesive Bonded Seams.
Performance of Tape-Bonded Seams of EPDM Membranes:
Comparison of the Peel Creep-Rupture Response of
Tape-Bonded and Liquid-Adhesive Bonded Seams.
(3579 K)
Rossiter, W. J., Jr.; Vangel, M. G.; Embree, E. J.;
Kraft, K. M.; Seiler, J. F., Jr.
NIST BSS 175; 67 p. May 1996.
Available from:
Government Printing Office
Order number: SN003-003-03411-8
Keywords:
adhesive tapes; adhesive testing; bonding; building
technology; creep-rupture; EPDM; microscopy; roofing;
seams; time-to-failure
Abstract:
A study was conducted to compare the creep-rupture
response (i.e., time-to-failure of TTF) of tape-bonded
and liquid-adhesive-bonded seams of EPDM
(ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer) roofing membranes.
Two commercial tape systems (i.e., tape and primer) and
one liquid adhesive were applied to well-cleaned EPDM
rubber. The creep-rupture experiments were conducted at
23 DGC (73 DGF) and 40% to 45% relative humidity under
peel loads ranging from 3.1 N to 24.9 N (0.7 lbf to 5.6
lfb). For each adhesive system, the data were found to
be fitted well by the model: ln(mean TTF)=b0 + b1 DT
Load + b2 exp(b3 DT Load). A comparison of the fitted
curves for the tape-bonded specimens with those for the
liquid-adhesive-bonded sepecimens provided a basis for
evaluating the relative creep-rupture response of the
two types of bonding systems. Similarly, a comparison
of the fitted curves for the replicate data sets of each
adhesive system gave a measure of the batch-to-batch
reproducibility of the creep-rupture data. The major
conclusion was that the tape-bonded specimens had
times-to-failure that were, in most cases, comparable to
or greater than those of the liquid-adhesive-bonded
specimens. And, the tape-bonded specimens provided
time-to-failure results that were reproducible between
replicate sets.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899