Adhesive selection guide
What’s the best glue to use for bigHead fasteners? It depends on your substrate material (and your priorities).
Use this guide to help you choose the correct adhesive for bonding fasteners onto composites.
A tensile test in the bigHead labs
How we made this guide
We tested a range of 3M adhesives to see how well they worked together with our fasteners and different substrate materials.
Conducting tests in our lab, we measured the force needed to pull the bigHead off the substrate material. We present the typical adhesive bonding strength of each combination in MegaPascals (MPa).
We tested each adhesive at room temperature, and confirmed their compatibility with three bigHead finishes:
- Bright zinc plate (BZP)
- 316 stainless steel
- Zinc nickel (available as a custom finish only)
Here are the results, which you can use to find the adhesive type that best suits your materials and performance needs.
Always check with your adhesive supplier, but as a general guide, working time variants of adhesive types should offer similar bonding performance with our fasteners.
The best adhesive for…
Multi-material substrates
For multi-material substrates, choose 3M DP8610NS. This is the go-to option for thermoset polymeric and metallic substrates.
In our tests, this adhesive performed similarly on polymeric and metallic materials with each of the three bigHead finishes.
| bigHead fastener finish | Typical pull-off strength (MPa) |
|---|---|
| BZP | 3.4 |
| 316 stainless steel | 3.3 |
| Zinc nickel | 3.9 |
Chart shows the typical pull-off strength (MPa) of 3M DP8610NS for epoxy FRP and aluminium substrates. Tested on epoxy FRP and aluminium substrates.
Epoxy FRP substrates
If you’re working with epoxy FRP substrates, 3M DP6310NS gives you relatively high strength and durability.
We found it performed comparably with all three finishes we tested.
| bigHead fastener finish | Typical pull-off strength (MPa) |
|---|---|
| BZP | 5.3 |
| 316 stainless steel | 3.6 |
| Zinc nickel | 4.1 |
Chart shows the typical pull-off strength (MPa) of 3M DP6310NS for epoxy FRP substrates. Tested on Von Roll Vetronit G11 epoxy/glass fibre laminate.
Epoxy FRP substrates in temperature resistant applications
To increase temperature resistance when using epoxy FRP substrates, 3M DP420NS is a good choice.
It performed best with BZP bigHead finishes.
| bigHead fastener finish | Typical pull-off strength (MPa) |
|---|---|
| BZP | 4.0 |
| 316 stainless steel | 2.5 |
| Zinc nickel | 1.9 |
Chart shows the typical pull-off strength (MPa) of 3M DP420NS black for epoxy FRP + temperature resistance. Tested on Von Roll Vetronit G11 epoxy/glass fibre laminate.
Polypropylene and LSE polymer substrates
When bonding to a low surface energy substrate, such as polypropylene or LSE polymer, choose 3M DP8010. It allows for one-step bonding, avoiding the hassle of complex surface preparations.
This performed best with zinc nickel bigHead finishes.
| bigHead fastener finish | Typical pull-off strength (MPa) |
|---|---|
| BZP | 0.8 |
| 316 stainless steel | 1.1 |
| Zinc nickel | 1.7 |
Chart shows the typical pull-off strength (MPa) of 3M DP8010 for low surface energy substrates. Tested on polypropylene/glass fibre organosheet.
Aluminium substrates
For bonding onto aluminium, 3M DP8705NS is a strong, fast solution. No primer is needed.
It performed comparably well with all three bigHead finishes.
| bigHead fastener finish | Typical pull-off strength (MPa) |
|---|---|
| BZP | 5.8 |
| 316 stainless steel | 4.5 |
| Zinc nickel | 6.3 |
Chart shows the typical pull-off strength (MPa) of 3M DP8705 NS for aluminium substrates. Tested on Aluminium 6016 plate.
Adhesive selection FAQ
How do I choose the right adhesive for bigHead fasteners?
The results in this guide confirm the compatibility of each adhesive with bigHead fastener materials. You can select whichever of these adhesives is best suited to your substrate material, and any additional application requirements.
Which adhesive is recommended for bonding fasteners to aluminium substrates?
3M DP8705NS is a strong, fast solution for aluminium. It requires no primer and achieved pull-off strengths up to 6.3 MPa in our lab tests.
What adhesive should I use for low surface energy (LSE) polymers like polypropylene?
3M DP8010 is ideal for LSE substrates. It enables one-step bonding without complex surface preparation, and performs notably well with our BZP finish.
How do temperature requirements affect adhesive choice for epoxy FRP substrates?
For applications needing higher temperature resistance, 3M DP420NS is recommended. It showed reliable performance with bigHead fasteners, particularly with BZP finishes.
Did you test each adhesive with different working times?
No. In general, adhesives from the same series or family with different working times should perform similarly in terms of material compatibility and mechanical performance.
Are the adhesive recommendations based on independent testing?
Yes. We obtained all the results through testing in our UK laboratory using standardised pull-off tests. At bigHead we work collaboratively with many adhesive suppliers but do not endorse specific adhesive products or their manufacturers.
Disclaimers
The information within is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of any kind.
bigHead cannot accept liability for performance arising from use of these products.
Always perform appropriate testing and evaluation to determine application suitability.
Images are for illustrative purposes only and may differ from actual products.
Get in touch
We’re here to help you choose the right adhesive for your application. Drop us a line at expert@bigHead.co.uk.