Betamate 1630 structural adhesive from Dow Automotive Systems (Auburn Hills, MI) has been selected as the winner of a 2015 Golden Mousetrap award in the category of Materials Assembly: Fastening, Joining and Assembly Components. The program recognizes design, engineering, and manufacturing in North America and was hosted by UBM Canon (owner of PlasticsToday) and Design News.

Used to bond the body structure of automobiles during assembly, Betamate 1630 enables the use of dissimilar substrates like carbon fiber composites, aluminum or light-weight steel to achieve weight savings, improved fuel and assembly efficiencies, and sustainability. Betamate polyurethane (PU) structural adhesives have previously been used in the Deep Orange 4 team at Clemson University, contributing to vehicle lightweighting.

Additional performance advantages reportedly include improved crash safety, vehicle durability, and design flexibility. The continuous bead of adhesive is said to help reduce noise and vibrations and the need for mechanical fasteners is reduced or eliminated. The adhesive is also designed to be easy to apply, providing benefits on the assembly line as well as in the finished vehicle.

"Betamate 1630 is a global product," said Mansour Mirdamadi, Chief Engineer, Dow Automotive Systems. "This allows us to support global vehicle platforms and security of supply, while helping streamline the customer approval and specification process.

Additionally, this structural adhesive provides sustainability benefits by supporting vehicle lightweighting, durability and longevity, and manufacturing efficiencies. It helps customers meet a wide variety of targets."

Betamate 1630 also received a 2014 R&D 100 award after being named one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced in the past year by R&D Magazine.