All language subtitles for T.W.T.S05E04.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
On Tomorrow's World Today,

we explore
the cutting-edge advances

that are shaping
four different worlds.

The world of inspiration,

where the wonders
of the natural world
amaze and inspire us.

The world of creation,
where ideas come to life
from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,
where ideas and inventions
move us all forward.

The world of production,

where innovations
are mass-produced
to improve our lives.

From Inventionland
world headquarters,

here is your host
George Davison.

Hi, everybody.
I'm George Davison.

I'm at Inventionland's
innovation testing lab area,

where we're in the middle
of testing and evaluating
a special kind of technology.

Now, most of you are familiar
with rivets.

You know, when it comes
to holding things together,
like two pieces of metal.

Now rivets have always
provided a certain amount
of strength and security,

but as you can see,
they can come apart
under certain conditions.

So today,
we're testing VHB tape.

This technology is claiming

that it can do things
that rivets can't do.

And I really want to see
if it works.

It's easy to apply

and once you put pressure

onto the material

that's on that tape,

it's not supposed
to come apart.

And...

it's not coming apart.

We also wanted to test this

in underwater conditions,
because if it's used
in construction,

you know, we want to see
how it really withstands
those elements in the field.

And as you can see,

this has the potential
to change
the way we build things.

But the tape isn't just used
in construction, either.

We found it
in our cell phones.

And even
in an instrument panel
in our car.

I want to see how
people who created this tape

used their imaginations
to create prototypes
and then mass produce it.

I'm going to send Greg
to the world of production

to explore how this tape
is shaping our future.

Egyptians first used rivets
over 5,000 years ago.

They used them to join handles
to clay pots.

Now, if we fast-forward
to the mid-19th century,
rivets are everywhere.

They're used
in tool construction,
vehicles,

even home and building
construction.

It's one of the most prevalent
ways of joining materials
together.

Now, as we get ready
to enter the middle
of the 21st century,

we have to ask the question.
Is there a better way?

Well, I'm at 3M in Germany
to meet with Nelson Pimentel.

We're going to discuss some
new and innovative methods

that will answer that question
with a resounding yes.

-Hi, Nelson.
-Hi, Greg.

-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

Now, I know the 3M VHB tape
has been around
for quite a while.

Now, when we see a rivet
in a thing, we see the rivet.

What are some of the things
that 3M VHB tape might be in
that we don't see?

So actually
you already described
the construction application,

but we do have beside that,
like, appliance,
transportation,

elevators,
like applying the panels
to the elevator itself

or even consumer electronics.

So we don't have to see rivets
through our tablet.

Yeah, sure. Sure.

All right. Now,
this doesn't look
all that different

from the double-faced foam
that I might have
in my toolbox at home.

What makes it different?

Yeah, I would like
to challenge you.

To just ask you to pull apart
this piece of the tape.

-You have a conventional tape
in the first step.
-Okay.

The second step,
you have the 3M VHB tape.

So if you are trying
to pull it apart, you see
two competing properties,

which the tape actually has.
It's viscoelasticity.

It has a viscous part,
which is allowing you
to change the shape,

and the elasticity, which is
bouncing back the material.

All right, well, why don't you
show me how you apply it?

Sure, so first, certainly,
you need to clean up
the surface.

You don't want to have, like,
fingerprints or some
other dust or dirt on it.

So we just clean up with
isopropanol alcohol on it.

It's easy to be applied,
you just use
our 3M VHB tape...

cutting it,

applying some pressure,
as it's a pressure-sensitive
adhesive,

so it needs pressure
in order to adhere
to the surface,

you remove the liner, easily,

and as you see,
it's two different substrates
that I'm bonding together.

That's already
really stuck on, there.

All right. Well, I mean,
there are a lot
of different applications,

a lot of different needs
that people might have.

How do you test for that
and how do you show them
what you have available?

Yeah. Let me just show you
in our lab,
how we are doing it, actually.

So, Nelson, you know,
nuts, bolts, screws, rivets,

these are all
pretty conventional
construction techniques

that everybody
is familiar with.

You're asking folks to kind of
make a leap of faith, here,

with 3M VHB tape.

What are you going to do
to up their
level of confidence

that they know that the tape
is going to do the job
that they need it to do?

Yeah, sure. So certainly
years of testing,

but as well, walking, really,
side by side
with the customer,

solving their
design challenges

as well as their
automation problems
that they might have.

Okay, so what are we
looking at here
as far as products go?

Yeah, sure. So before
selecting the final tape,

certainly customer might
be able to apply a roll,
a piece of tape,

or they could actually apply,
like, a die cut piece,

but before even choosing
the right tape

we certainly need
to collect data
and to make a lot of testings.

What are we doing
to collect that data?

Now, are you actually getting
these from the customer?

Sure. I'm actually having
an original substrate
from the customer,

and we do need to test
according to
their requirements.

So different customers have
different loads,
different forces,

and we do need, really,
to understand how well
our tape is, for example,

adhering to their substrate.
For that, we are actually
doing the peel test.

Or even going further,

we are going towards,
in order to test the actual
performance of our tape,

we are doing shear tests

or even tensile tests.

[Greg] Okay, can you show me
how you do that?

[Nelson] Yeah, sure.

So, Nelson, what exactly
do we learn
from the peel test?

Actually, we learn
how well our tape is adhering
to the original substrate.

By having, like,
this test result
and a perfect foam split,

it's an indicator that it's
adhering properly
to the substrate.

So now you've determined
the adhesion properties
you need

for the particular client's
product.

How do you let them know,
though, how strong that bond
is going to be?

For that, we would do
different types of testing
like an overlap shear test,

where we would really test
the internal strength
of the tape.

We bonded just here
an inch by inch piece of tape
on these substrates

and pulling them apart.

And this will give us
some new data,

which we actually need
to proceed for next testings.

Okay.

Well I see that it's starting
to pull apart now,

so are there other
kinds of strength test
that you would do,

because I know you really want
them to be confident

that this bond
is going to hold.

We are actually doing
a dynamic test,
which is a pendulum test.

Do you want to see it?

Absolutely.

Let's do it. Let's go.

So, Nelson, I understand
that the shear test
is basically about force

over a longer period of time.

I get the feeling this
pendulum test looks to be
something very different.

It is, actually.
This will be really
a dynamic testing.

So it will be impacting
a very small probe

where we do have some VHB
attached to it

and, yeah, it will
absorb the energy.

So do you want to
press the button?

I most certainly do.

All right, well, that knocked
that clean off there.

Yeah, let's see the results.

So what we are actually
seeing here now, it's a
really clear foam split,

which is an indicator
that the whole energy
has been absorbed

by the foam core itself.

[Greg] So basically,
one of the main points

of the tests
that we've seen so far

is to make sure that the foam
is adhering to the substrate
that your customer provides

and it's not peeling off.

Exactly, exactly.

Okay. Well, I mean,
these tests have
all been great,

but they've all also been,
you know,
laboratory conditions.

What happens when you get out
into the real world?

I mean, you could have
products used in Arizona
or Minnesota or even Florida.

How do you simulate
those conditions?

Yeah, good question.
So actually we are using
our climatic chambers

in order to make
extreme weather conditions

and really doing
an accelerated aging.

We are placing them
into chambers,

keeping them
for a couple of weeks

under high temperature,
high humidity or even
cold temperature with ice,

and then really repeating
all the tests, which we did
now under room temperature.

[Greg] Okay, so basically
you're exposing these things
for a couple of weeks

to really extreme conditions,

which will then kind of
simulate seasonal changes.

Yep, exactly.

How do you know
how the materials will behave

under extreme sunlight
for decades?

[Nelson] Yeah, for that,
we do have our UV chamber.

We expose them to UV light
and doing as well
an accelerated aging there.

[Greg] Okay, great. Well,
what else do you have
to show me?

I have a nice
surprise for you.
Do you want to see it?

-Lead the way.
-Let's go.

All right, Nelson.
Now we're talking.

This looks like tomorrow's
world technology here today.

Tell me what
we're looking at.

Yeah, so now we are in
our bonding process center,

where we are able to leverage
our capabilities about
how to automatize the process.

And what you have
actually seen here

is how you, for example,
could extrude a tape.

So what we are actually
doing here is, like,
using the best out of tools,

a liquid adhesive and a tape,

just combining them together
by just feeding the material
through an extruder,

applying heat to it and just
easily applying it
on your surface.

[Greg]
Now, is this going to have
the same adhesive qualities

as your VHB tape
or the liquid adhesive?

[Nelson] Yeah, it will have
performance like a 3M VHB
tape or like a sealant.

[Greg] What are some
of the other advantages
to using this process?

Yeah, sure.
So we just prepared one sample
in order to demonstrate it.

It's our stretch release
technology.

So it's quite easy
to just remove the tape.

As you can see it, here.

[Greg] So you can just
remove that adhesive.

So say you're in the middle
of your manufacturing process.

Something goes wrong
with a piece
of your equipment.

You can remove the adhesive,
not lose any materials,

send the whole thing
right back through your
manufacturing process again.

Exactly. So as you can see,
it's very easy
to just remove it.

All right. Well,
we've collected a lot of data
here today,

we've looked at
a lot of different samples
and testing,

what I really want to know now
is how we apply that

to one of your
real world customers.

What we would like now
to demonstrate you

is how we could predict
our behavior or the bonding
solution behavior

in real world application.
So do you want to see it?

-I do.
-Yeah. Then let's go.

Well, Nelson, we've performed
a lot of tests,
collected a lot of data.

Now you've crunched all those
numbers and put it together
into this simulation.

What exactly
does this represent?

Yeah, all the data,
which we actually created,

was to characterize
our material

and we created
a material data card

which has been incorporated
into the FEA software,

which stands for
finite element analysis,

where we are really able
to predict the behavior
of the overall structure

as well as our 3M VHB tape

and knowing
how it's really behaving
in these circumstances.

So basically, you're able to
save your clients a lot of
time, money and effort

by creating what would be
a virtual prototype,

which would just get them
further along the line,

down towards their end game
of what they actually need.

Yeah, exactly.
So we really shorten up
their design cycle time

and as well saving
a lot of money.

But at the end of the day,
you still need to make
a hardware test.

Can I get to see
something like that?

I'd love to see
some real world testing.

Yeah, sure.
We would like to invite you

to the Stanley testing proving
ground in York, Pennsylvania.

Excellent. I'm going to be
off to there, then.
Nelson, thank you very much.

[Nelson]
You're welcome. Bye.

Well, we've
performed the test,

we've collected the data

and we've run the simulations.

Now, it is time to see
3M VHB tape in action.

I'm at the National Certified
Testing Laboratories
in York, PA.

We have three more experiments
on tap, including

launching a two-by-four
out of a cannon
at a glass door.

I can't wait.

Hey, guys. Reese.

-Good to meet you.
-Good to meet you, Todd.

You're with
Stanley Access Technologies.

Tell me what we're
working on here.

Today, we're going to be doing
some hurricane testing
on our Dura-Storm product

and you got here just in time
to watch us put in the glass
and test out the VHB tape.

Excellent. Reese, how's that
all going to happen?

Yeah, so as Todd mentioned,
we've got the 3M VHB tape,

which holds in
each piece of glass

and in order to get
that hurricane rating,

we need to go through
three different tests.

One, a static pressure test,

that simulates gusts of wind
up to 220 miles per hour
acting on the glass.

Second is a
hurricane impact test,

where, as you said,
a two-by-four is fired
directly into the glass.

And third is a
pressure cycling test,

where pressure is cycled
inwards and outwards rapidly

to simulate
that hurricane event.

Now, even under all of that
stress, this tape is going
to hold that glass in place.

Exactly, and this is why
we did all of the testing
with Nelson,

to give us confidence
for this application.

All right. Well, let's get
a piece of glass in this door
and get started.

Let's do it.

[Greg] Okay, now when Todd
brings this over, he's got
a prepped piece of glass

and he's pretty much
got one shot at this.

[Reese] Exactly.
So he needs to make sure
that alignment is perfect

and then he'll apply
final pressure to this.

[Greg] Now, once he does this,
how long will it take

for this piece of glass
to set up?

[Reese] Right when he applies
pressure it's at about 30%
of its final strength

and it will get to 100%
over the next 24 hours, about.

All right, but you've got
a door all ready to go
for our test,

so why don't we get going?

Let's do it.

All right, Reese.
What's the first test
going to be?

This is a static pressure
or structural wind load test.

Essentially, this entire wall
is pulling vacuum
on this door system,

up to about
55 pounds per square foot
of pressure.

And the tape has even
been tested up to

120 pounds per square foot
of pressure before.

[Greg]
What does that translate to
as far as wind speeds go?

Right about 220 mile per hour
wind speeds.

[Greg] All right.
Well, I guess it's
time to get our hard hats on

and get ready
for our next test.

Let's get to it.

So, Reese,
when I was in Germany
with Nelson,

we did a lot
of data collection,
which was basically

there to build a simulation
of what we're about to see
in real life.

What can you tell me
about this test?

So we're about to do the
hurricane impact test,

where we're going to take
an eight foot long
two-by-four,

lovingly called a missile,

and shoot it
at this doorframe,

right in the corner,
at about 50 feet per second.

Why the corner?

So the corner simulates
essentially a worst case
scenario.

Right? We need to know
that in a hurricane event,

this could take an impact
and then
still remain standing.

So basically,
all of the simulations

that we've performed
up to this point

are to mimic
an extreme weather situation
like a hurricane,

where you can have
temperature changes,
pressure changes

and even have debris
flying around.

You've got it.
And we have confidence
in this tape,

because the 3M VHB tapes
are viscoelastic materials,

which means that
their strength is proportional

to the rate
a stress is applied.

So the faster
the applied force,
the stiffer the tape reacts

and the stronger it is.

All right. Well,
I think we're ready to go,

so we'd better
get out of the way.

Let's do it.

Ready?

Fire in the hole!

[Greg] Man, Reese, that really
hit that glass door.
Let's go see the damage.

[Reese]
This is such an extreme test.

We can see that the missile
indented the glass.

But if we look
around the perimeter,

we can see that
all of the 3M VHB tape
is still adhered.

[Greg] Right. Now, one impact
does not a hurricane make.

How do you know that this
is going to sustain itself
through the entire event?

That's exactly what
the next test is for.

It's the
pressure cycling test,

which we'll start here
in a minute.

Excellent.

So are we ready to
get the cyclic test started?

-Absolutely. Thank you, Drew.
-All right.

So, Reese, tell me.

What exactly does
the cycling test...
what's that going to show us?

Sure. It's exactly
as you said.

Even in a hurricane-type
event, if this glass
were damaged,

we need to know that
it still has some integrity

and that the 3M VHB tape
is going to continue holding
in the glass over time.

So you're going to test it
in exactly this spot,
in exactly this state,

and it's important
that you test it
in this damaged condition

so you know whether or not
that glass is going to hold

through a sustained
weather event.

Yes, and whereas with the
structural wind load testing,

we held a sustained pressure
for up to a minute,

this is actually
cycling in and out.

So we're going to see
the glass pulsating

in and out throughout this
for a few thousand cycles
of tests.

How long would this test
normally go on?

The entire test takes about
six and a half hours.

We start by running
a few thousand cycles

at 50% of
the maximum pressure,

then we gradually
ramp up that pressure

and do a couple of hundred
cycles at each of those
increments.

And now you can actually
see it start to pulse

in and out as that pressure
changes.

[Reese] Yes.
Just a few thousand
more cycles.

[Greg] But the tape
is holding.

All right. Well, Reese,
this has been excellent.
Thank you very much.

I'm going to get on
out of here.

I know you're heading back
to Inventionland.

You're going to meet
with George.
So you have a great trip.

Great to meet you, Greg.

Hey, Reese!
Welcome to Inventionland.

Thanks for having me, George.

-You bet.
-I see you got my gift.

I did. I've been waiting
for you to get here, though.
I didn't want to...

You know,
I didn't want to do it myself.

-Let's see what it is.
-All right.

What? Oh, look at that.
Wait, is that the scooter?

[Reese]
It's the exact same scooter,
not quite assembled,

but this is meant to be
put together nearly entirely
with 3M VHB tape.

You probably put a ton of work
into figuring out,

you know, how to make
this product come to life
and all,

but I'm really curious about,
you know, testing

and how you, you know,
how do you build confidence
enough

to go to the world market
like this.

No matter what the customer
application,
whether it be a scooter,

or with Stanley Access
Technologies creating
a hurricane-rated door,

we needed to go through
a rigorous testing cycle.

Mmm-hmm.

[Reese] So we start with
basic adhesion testing.

It doesn't really matter
how strong the tape is

if it doesn't adhere
in the first place.

Then we went through
strength testing,

both shear strength,
but also looking at
impact strength,

because we showed that
that door frame
needs to withstand

a two-by-four
being shot out of a cannon
at it.

And then, in addition to that,
right, we also care about
environmental testing.

Heat, humidity, cold
or just about anything
nature can throw at it.

[George]
Let's talk about the future.
Where are we going?

What we've invented is
3M VHB extrudable tapes,

which kind of has
all of the same benefits
as our typical VHB tapes,

but now these can be also
robotically applied

in just about any
design flexibility
you might want.

The extrudable option is
kind of a liquid applied form.

So it can go around
tighter curves.

It can change thicknesses and
meet whatever that customer
might want it to.

[George] So, Reese,
that's all really good stuff.

But you know what,
what is this huge contraption
that you've sent me?

I've been waiting
to look under this tarp.

Yes, so this is our
last surprise for you.

A floating chair?

[Reese] Yeah, it's levitating.

It may look like it is,
but the chair,
the only thing holding it up

is 3M VHB tapes.

Wow, good stuff.

So it's good, right?

And it held you.

-Yeah, I tested it.
It worked really well.
-[laughs]

Well done, Reese.
Well, you know,
I'm glad you came in today.

It's good to see, uh,
what this technology can do

and I appreciate you
coming all this way
to show us this technology.

It's been great to meet you.
Thank you.

You as well.