Water may be vital to human life, but it can also be detrimental to the performance of many manufactured products. One such product is the automotive sensor connector, which Pune, India-based Minda Industries Ltd. has been making for several decades. Recently, however, the company needed to address the problem of water entry causing several of its sensor connectors to fail.
Minda’s product designers researched several ways to better seal the connectors—which leaked at below 0.5 bar pressure. To that end, Minda engineers met with LORD Corp. to discuss the capabilities of the company’s in-mold bonding (IMB) adhesives. LORD offered to apply one to several connectors during molding, and then have Minda test them under high pressure to see if the adhesive provided an adequate seal.