Adhesive Technology Hyperloop: Crystal clear adhesive ensures clarity

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With top speeds of up to 1250 km/h or 777 mph, the Hyperloop is intended to transport passengers from A to B. The journey through the narrow tube is still music of the future. Adhesive specialist Ruderer brings light to this future vision with its MMA high-performance adhesive Technicoll 9414.

From San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes. That is the vision of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In 2013, he presented his mobility dream to the world: the Hyperloop Train. A mix of a supersonic airplane, high-speed train, and hovercraft. If his dream comes true, passengers in capsules, called pods, would race through tubes made of steel or concrete at a breathtaking speed of 1250 kilometers (777 miles) per hour. For comparison, the speed of sound is about 1235.5 kilometers per hour (767 mph). The propulsion is either via magnetic levitation technology or electromagnetic technology, allowing the capsules to glide almost frictionlessly on a cushion of air. In both types of propulsion, the tubes have a very low air pressure, close to an absolute vacuum.

In 2015, the Tesla CEO initiated the "Hyperloop Pod Competition." Over three consecutive years, various teams from all over the world competed. They all presented working prototypes, focusing on design, technology, and speed. Among the competition participants was a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). This young research group won the prize for the fastest capsule twice, which last reached a top speed of 482 kilometers per hour (299 mph). On the 1.6-kilometer (0,99 mile) -long test track in Hawthorne (California), the capsule of the TUM WARR (Scientific Workgroup for Rocketry and Space Flight) Hyperloop team achieved the highest speed on January 29, 2017.

An adhesive brings light to the future vision

The first passenger ride under vacuum conditions took place on July 10, 2023, in Ottobrunn near Munich/Germany. It is the first Hyperloop test track in Europe to be certified for passenger operation under vacuum conditions.

On a test track of 24 meters, the capsule achieved a top speed of 16 kilometers per hour (9,9 mph). The TUM Hyperloop team is targeting speeds of up to 900 kilometers per hour  (559 mph) with their technology.

Their system consists of a network of tubes with a diameter of about four meters, a passenger module, and a control center including control and vacuum pumps. The tubes are fitted with light diffusers, which are illuminated evenly by LEDs. LED lighting is also installed along the outer edges of the passenger capsule. To mount these slightly curved light strips, the TUM Hyperloop team used the crystal-clear 2-component MMA adhesive Technicoll 9414 from Ruderer Adhesive Technology.

Adhesive forms a transparent bond

The crucial factor for this decision was that this high-performance adhesive forms a transparent adhesive joint and does not impair the optics in the slightest. The adhesive joints were supposed to blend seamlessly with the high-quality plastic surfaces and support the gentle lighting effect, which was achieved. The adhesive can be applied using a dispensing gun from the dual-chamber cartridge, including a static mixing tube. "The mixing tube must be used to ensure the correct mixture of the two components," recommends Petra Ruderer, Managing Partner at Ruderer. The processing time, known as pot life, is two minutes. "This short processing time and the rapid initial strength and short cycle times enable very efficient work," Petra Ruderer continues. Due to its good flexibility, excellent adhesive strength, and high temperature and media resistance, Technicoll 9414 also extends the life and durability of the light diffusers even at high speeds.