Case Study:
Specialised bonding of metal to rubber for a horse rehabilitation company
Overview
Sometimes something we’ve never seen or done before comes through our doors and one wet spring morning this year such a thing happened. A company who designs and manufactures horse rehabilitation equipment contacted Amarin with a challenge.
When horses are injured, like us, they go through a repair process and then need rehabilitation to build up the strength again in the effected limb. These amazing pieces of equipment use salt water to aid with the healing process and help to build up strength through water resistance. The inner workings are lined with a thin rubber to protect the horse’s legs from being cut on the metal and this rubber delaminated while submerged in the salt water. The customer asked us if we could offer something to help them and the horses.
Solution
After looking into the issue, the customer was experiencing and speaking to their operatives about when the problem presents itself, we established that it was the adhesive that was not suitable. The glue used was a basic contact adhesive that you would use in everyday DIY and while it would bond rubber to steel it would not perform well in the harsh environment of the salt water. We worked with a market leading adhesive manufacturer to establish not only the correct glue to use but also how best to prepare both metal and rubber to make sure the bond was the best it could possibly be. Since implementing these changes, the customer has placed large repeat orders on us such was their level of satisfaction with our solution.
