May 26 2005
EPDM sheeting is an ideal sealing membrane. It is unaffected by water, sunlight, heat or ultra-violet radiation. The material is highly durable and can withstand temperatures from 30°C below zero to 120°C without shrinking, melting, cracking or becoming brittle. However, it has proven difficult to produce large sheets to cover, for example, roofs of large industrial buildings or the beds of artificial lakes. A complicatedprocess involving vulcanized joins has limited the material’s market.
Trelleborg has been able to simplify the joining technique with its “Thermobond” technology. Sheets are bonded by melting the material together using a hot-air pistol or a heated wedge. This is made possible by applying a thin layer of thermoplastic rubber to the EPDM sheeting during production. In this way, large sheets can be prefabricated.
Bo Peterson, market manager for geomembranes at Trelleborg Rubber Membranes, explains that the rubber sheeting for which this technology is used is called Elastoseal.
“The range of applications for Elastoseal is extensive and encompasses everything from lining small garden ponds to roof coverings for large industrial buildings or covering landfill sites,” Bo says.
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