New Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform®

Sika Purform® Technology builds on the strengths of polyurethane and gives our engineers the tools to create new Sikaflex® products with high performance and ultra-low, free monomer diisocyanate contents.

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® is the state-of-the-art and next generation joint sealant for floors and civil engineering structures, with the right balance of properties for the best overall results, thanks to the features, advantages and benefits of the Purform® technology.

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® is impressive with faster curing and increased durability, plus it is non-staining with increased substrate compatibility and very low monomeric diisocyanate.

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® is now the first choice for performance, quality, and durability. Typical structures and applications for horizontal joint sealing with Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® range from parking decks to sewer plants, as well as floors in warehouses, production and processing areas, even clean rooms due to its ultra-low emissions.

In addition to accommodating movement, these joints can be exposed to weathering, mechanical impact, and chemical exposure. Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® provides a unique balance of properties.

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® has outstanding application characteristics, essential for productive work rates and finishing with good-looking joints. Professionals using Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® appreciate its:

• Low application force, allowing easy and efficient application.
  
• Non-sag properties, so the sealant stays where it is applied
• Short cut-off strings, meaning less mess and no time is lost cleaning
• Good body and tack-free surfaces, making it easy to tool and achieve a visually attractive surface finish
• Low odor and ultra-low VOC’s, making it for safe application and use indoors
  

The most durable and reliable joint sealing is not usually achieved by the product with the highest specific chemical resistance, UV resistance or movement capability. Generally, the best results are achieved by products that offer the best compromise for application, performance and durability!

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® has a unique balance of properties that can provide the necessary movement accommodation with outstanding mechanical properties, weathering and chemical resistance, as well as good substrate compatibility and ultra-low emissions.

• Movement capability: ± 50% (ASTM C 719) and class 25 HM (ISO11600)
• Weathering resistance: 10 cycles (ISO 19862), no visible cracks after 5000 hrs. QUV
• High tear resistance: 9 N/mm (ISO 34)
• Outstanding compatibility: non-staining on many natural stones
• High chemical resistance: Fuels and liquid chemicals (DIN EN 14178-6)
• External certification from well-known testing authorities: EN15651-4, EN 14188-2, ASTM C920, etc.
• Lowest impact: Ultra-low monomer content, future proof. Highest EHS certification EC1 Plus, A+, M1

Floor joint sealants are exposed to chemicals. For example:

• Spillage from vehicles such as fuels and oils
  
• Cleaning and disinfecting products that are soapy, or strongly acidic or alkaline liquids, or even solvents.
  
• Organic acids after many unknown chemical combinations in sewage treatment plants

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® can handle all this!

There are several methods defined to determine the impact of chemicals on joint sealants, and the test method described in EN 14187-6 is regarded to give complete and realistic results to measure this. In testing, H-specimen samples (substrate-sealant-substrate) are submerged in the defined test liquids for a defined time and then elongated to 100%.

The samples must maintain function, remain elastic and not fail adhesively or cohesively. The joints are a system of substrate and sealant and therefore this system must be assessed together as a whole. The full picture from EN 14187-6 test results shows that Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® has excellent chemical resistance for many applications and areas of use.

Joint sealants must safely accommodate the anticipated level of joint movement, whilst being cyclically exposed to weathering, with wind and rain, snow and ice, with high and low temperatures, plus UV light radiation from the sun, and any other specific aspects of the environment such a marine salts and industrial pollutants etc. All this has an impact on the durability of the sealant in service as it ages.

Joints sealed with Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® are very reliable and long-lasting based on the proven Sikaflex® polyurethane technology, now made even better with Purform® technology.

Sikaflex® polyurethane sealants stay permanently flexible and elastic and do not get hard, even after years in service. Other joint sealing technologies tend to continue to harden post-curing, eventually making them hard and less elastic, so prone to failure. Sikaflex® Purform® polyurethane is built from the new Purform® prepolymers, which means that this next generation Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® has superior performance and long-term stability even in hot and humid conditions.

At Sika we put big efforts in providing reliable and durable solutions and rigorously test our products. For example, we undertake long-term mechanical testing after storage in the most adverse conditions or cyclic elongation and compression together with UV irradiation and much more.

At Sika reliable and long-lasting joint sealants represent sustainability in action, which Sikaflex® polyurethane products have now proven for many decades. The disruption, effort and costs to refurbish damage from water ingress through the joints is not sustainable.

For the health and safety of Sika’s customers, we strive to reduce the amount of any harmful chemicals in our products. Even when you consider that any such exposure during joint sealing works is only minimal, the use of Sikaflex Purform® polyurethane allows us to reduce this even further in these high performance products.

Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® meets the highest VOC standards (EC1 Plus, A+, M1), is solvent free and has free monomeric diisocyanates contents far below the REACH 2023 limits.

Less impact, more sustainability

References and case studies from around the world provide security that Sikaflex® PRO-3 Purform® will deliver exactly what it promises. Check out a recent project here: