LORD Adhesives Reduce Freeman Marine Equipment Fabrication Costs by 35 Percent

Customer
Freeman Marine Equipment Inc. — a global leader in marine watertight and weather-tight closures.

Challenge
LORD was tasked with helping Freeman find a faster and more efficient way to meet the sizing and feature needs of customers for flat panel doors. The goals were to validate that Freeman Marine’s double-skin, mill-finished aluminum door skins could be adhesively bonded to an extruded aluminum panel frame and to demonstrate the doors could withstand the rigors of the blue water ocean environment.

Solution
LORD partnered with Freeman to select the optimal adhesive solution for Freeman’s needs as well as validate the adhesive’s merits as compared to welding and mechanical fasteners. Traditional welding or mechanical fastening of panel skins involves rivets that can be difficult to prep and paint, may loosen over time and can lead to corrosion.

Results
The adhesive-bonded components matched or outperformed the welded components, as well as reduced the cost of door panel fabrication by as much as 35 percent. Not only do adhesives reduce the amount of filler material and labor required when doors are painted, but they allow for a totally smooth, unblemished, non-distorted panel that can otherwise only be obtained with costly grinding if the panel is of welded construction.