“Accident Repairs” Further Training Initiative with Added Value Benefits for Practitioners

Messe Frankfurt has launched a “Further training” campaign as part of this year’s Automechanika. An important component of the campaign is the “accident damage repairs” training package. The goal here is to give interested participants practical sessions on this demanding area of work and allow them to try out tools and methods themselves. One workshop is hosted by Henkel.

During the “Body bonding techniques” workshop – Henkel, with its Teroson branded products, shows participants chemical bonding materials as important elements of today’s vehicle bodies. They receive information about health and safety regulations regarding the use of chemical products and have the chance to apply the products themselves. Participants also find out about the main tools used to apply sealants and adhesives. Here too there is a hands-on component, the aim of which is to return a vehicle body as closely as possible to its original appearance following the repair process.

Whether steel, aluminum or plastic, modern automobile bodies contain materials of every kind. Despite their conflicting demands, both body strength and lightweight construction are prerequisits resulting in the use of thin-walled high-strength roof skins and other structural components.

Bonding in the vehicle as a state-of-the-art joining method
By halting the passenger airbag, bonded windows provide increased occupant protection. Moreover, almost all passenger cars today feature bonded windows to increase torsional rigidity. At the least, the windscreen fulfils this role. In many cases, the strategy for body repairs is a case of bonding rather than welding. The workshop participants learn – in some cases during hands-on sessions – how to repair plastic parts, how laser-welded roof skins can be replaced using a bonded joint, how vehicle windows can be detached and rebonded, and how the original condition of the body can be restored by the professional application of sealants.