The Engineering of Duct Tape Adafruit Industries Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! [Video]

A different sort of teardown, Engineerguy deconstructs duct tape. As Apollo 13 or RedGreen taught, every work station and emergency kit needs some duct tape.

Part of the magic is viscoelastic materials with some unusual properties. These materials are both liquid and solid, and are elastic. We are all familiar with one viscoelastic: Silly Putty.

To understand how duct tape is engineered, Bill dissolves the tape in solvent to reveals its three components — plastic backing, adhesive, and cloth reinforcement. He explains the function of each part, highlighting that the adhesive is a viscoelastic substance — a substance that can act like a liquid or a solid and it can behave elastically. It is these behaviors underlying the characteristic behavior of duct tape: adhere when light pressure is applied, hold tight, then let go when peeled from a surface.

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