Panel bonding: where to now?

Smart Repair

The manufacturers say it is a quick and inexpensive alternative to spot-welding. The insurers however, are still not so sure. Kate McDonald looks at the state of play for panel bonding products.
Panel bonding may not be a new process, but manufacturers are still finding it hard to gain acceptance for its use as an alternative to spot-welding.
The main sticking point used to be whether an adhesive could maintain the structural integrity of a vehicle, as opposed to the time-honoured tradition of spot-welding. These days, the largest barrier to wider use is the reluctance of the main insurance companies to authorise panel bonding if it was not used in the original manufacture.
Brian Kewin, technical officer for 3M's Automotive Aftermarket Division, said the market penetration for panel bonding is growing quite well. "It is much cleaner to use than welding, and has the advantage of not burning the interior areas, meaning less interior features have to be removed. There is no corrosion and no cracking of the metal. Our product also has the benefit of being able to be used with both soft and hard plastic."
3M recommends that spot welding is used on vertical surfaces, and that panel bonding be used in conjunction with traditional welding.
Jim Dimopoulos, general manager of AWD, which distributes Fusor, said panel bonding is gaining wider acceptance from vehicle manufacturers, and the time is drawing near when it will be gain widespread use in the crash repair industry.
"We have specifications from the US, and are working to get more," he said. "We definitely have DaimlerChrysler, which has a weld-bond policy -- bond first and then spot-weld. It is slowly changing towards acceptance of panel bonding. We have been talking to assessors and insurers and it is starting to happen."
3M is mainly working with overseas manufacturers to gain approval for its use. DaimlerChrysler has also approved the use of 3M's product, Kewin said, and Hyundai is planning to institute training programs though the Asia Pacific region either this year or next.
"We are basically waiting on Europe and then it will all flow on," he said. "As soon as Europe approves it as a repair procedure rather than in the original manufacture then it will really take off."
According to Kewin, 3M is currently compiling a full report on the international state of play for full manufacturer approval of panel bonding in the repair process, which should be available later in the year.

Original manufacture
In the meantime however, while the majority of insurers see a time in the future when the process could become widespread, they continue to insist that vehicles are repaired to manufacturers' specifications.
"Panel bonding is quite a good process but our policy is that the repairer must aim to restore the vehicle to the manufacturer's specifications," Keith Dean, assessing manager with Allianz, said. "If they use panel bonding in the original manufacture, then they can use it to repair the vehicle."
Russell Poyser, national assessing manager with AAMI, said his company doesn't have a policy on panel bonding as such. "I have been aware of these products for a number of years and first saw them in Europe in about 1996, but since then no one has come forward to us to say that this is a viable alternative," he said.
"If someone did approach us and it was deemed to be as good as spot-welding then we would certainly consider it. But in the meantime we would maintain that repairers should stick to repairing vehicles as per manufacturers' specifications."

Policy unchanged
RACQ GIO informed repairers and assessors back in 1996 not to use adhesives and chemical hardening components to glue roof or side panels. That policy has not changed, according to quality control assessor Patrick McDonnell.
"RACQ doesn't really have a policy as we have never encountered a case where a repairer has used panel bonding to replace a damaged panel," he said. "We only know of one instance where someone used it to repair a quarter turret. We asked him to remove the adhesive and do the job again using spot welding."
McDonnell said he could see vehicle manufacturers adopting the technique in the future, but until that time RACQ would not authorise its use. "Until manufacturers adopt the process we will continue to ask repairers to follow specifications."
Robert McDonald, industry research manager with NRMA, said his position is also unchanged. "I have heard of repairers using it from time to time but not recently," McDonald said. "I am aware that testing is going on in some countries to see if panel bonding is a suitable replacement but as far as I am aware that testing has been inconclusive. It is not yet clear what effect it will have on the structural integrity of the vehicle.
"If panel bonding is part of the original design of the car then that is a different matter. As long as the manufacturer endorses the use of the product then we would support it, but until that time we would be very reluctant to authorise its use."

Liability
The question also remains as to who would be liable for damage should a vehicle repaired with bonding have another accident. According to the insurers, if repairers use the product without authorisation, they could find it coming back to haunt them.
"If the repairer did use panel bonding nobody would know," Allianz's Keith Dean said. "However, if we didn't instruct the repairer to use the process then the problem could rebound on him if the car has another crash and it was discovered."
NRMA's Robert McDonald agreed. "If a repairer does use one of these products then they should be aware that they would be liable for any problems, particularly in terms of the durability of the product," he said. "If the manufacturer uses it in the original design then we would authorise it."
Repairers should also be aware that there could be problems with agreed labour times. Panel bonding is quicker and cheaper than welding, so when it comes to claiming for labour, problems could arise.
According to Fusor's Jim Dimopoulos, some bodyshops are claiming the cost of the adhesive as a spare part. "They will say to the insurer 'I don't have a spot-welder in my shop -- how much would they give to do a quarter panel?' At the moment it seems that insurers are saying 'we'll let you claim it as a spare part, but we will reduce the times'. That could be a sore point."
Allianz's labour times are set to allow repairers to replace the panel according to manufacturer times, Keith Dean said. "Bonding is much cheaper and quicker than welding. It is a very good process and down the track that will be the way to go, but at the moment it is the vehicle manufacturers who have to lead the way."