3M™ VHB™ Tape GPH-160GF

Harmonization Code : 3919.10.80 | Other self-adhesive plastic rolls not exceeding 20 cm wide.

Main features

High Temperature Performance (Up to 230°C)
1.6 mm thickness
Permanent seal against water, moisture, etc.

Product Description

3M VHB™ Tape GPH-160GF is a high-temperature resistant, multi-purpose acrylic foam tape designed for industrial bonding applications that require strong adhesion, conformability, and durable performance across a wide range of substrates. It combines the proven bonding reliability of 3M VHB™ technology with enhanced temperature resistance, making it suitable for demanding applications exposed to elevated temperatures, thermal cycling, vibration, and environmental stress.

GPH-160GF features a 1.6 mm (63 mil) thick gray acrylic foam core with multi-purpose adhesive on both sides, delivering excellent adhesion to metals, glass, high surface energy plastics, and painted surfaces. The viscoelastic acrylic foam construction provides stress relaxation, impact resistance, and long-term durability while maintaining strong bond performance under dynamic loads and thermal expansion mismatch.

The tape offers excellent resistance to moisture, UV exposure, solvents, and outdoor weathering, supporting long-term reliability in both indoor and outdoor environments. It also supports simplified assembly by replacing mechanical fasteners, liquid adhesives, rivets, screws, and welds in many bonding applications.

Product Key Features

High Temperature Resistance - designed for applications requiring elevated temperature performance during operation or processing.
Strong Durable Bond - provides high-strength permanent bonding to a variety of metals and high surface energy materials.
Viscoelastic Acrylic Foam Core - absorbs and distributes stress caused by vibration, impact, and thermal expansion mismatch.
Conformable Construction - foam core adapts to irregular surfaces and supports bonding across complex geometries.
Multi-Purpose Adhesive - bonds effectively to aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized steel, glass, acrylic, and painted surfaces.
Environmental Resistance - excellent resistance to UV, moisture, solvents, and outdoor weathering conditions.
Fast and Clean Assembly - eliminates drilling, welding, grinding, and mechanical fastening operations in many applications.

Applications

3M VHB™ Tape GPH-160GF is suited for industrial bonding and attachment applications requiring durable adhesion, temperature resistance, and long-term environmental performance.

Suitable for masking applications prior to powder coating or liquid paint processes
Suitable for operations involving a bake cycle and high operating temperatures
Ideal for stiffeners applied to equipment enclosures, metal cabinets, appliances, and signage

Product Family
3M-GPH160GF

1. Select Width

2. Available Length

3. Available Thickness

1.6

4. Available Color

Grey

Catalog Product

Unlike other products we offer, the products listed on this page cannot currently be ordered directly from the website.

Shortest leadtime

Shipping in 2 weeks

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Packaging

TDS, SDS & Technical documents

Specifications
Additional Information

Technical Specifications

Additional Information

DOUBLE SIDED ACRYLIC FOAM TAPE

3M® VHB®Tape GPH-160GF

1.6 mm total thickness UL 94 V-0 150C Short Temperature Resistance High initial tack 230°C Long Term Temperature Resistance

Technical Data Sheet SDS
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Note: Property values shown are typical and not intended for specification. Verify suitability under your geometry, dispense method, and cure profile.

Double Sided Acrylic Foam Tape with Red Polyethylene Film Liner

Key Features

Fast and easy to use
Invisible fastening to keep surfaces smooth
High temperature resistance
Eliminates drilling, grinding, refinishing, screwing, welding and associated re-work
Pressure-sensitive adhesive bonds on contact to provide immediate handling strength

Processing Summary

Clean: Most substrates should be cleaned with a 70/30 mixture of (IPA*)/Water prior to applying 3M™ VHB™ Tape. (See application notes for exceptions)

Apply: Firm application pressure develops better adhesive contact and helps improve bond strength. Typically, good surface contact can be attained by applying enough pressure to ensure that the tape experiences approximately 100 kPa (15 psi) of pressure.

Wait: After application, the bond strength will gradually increase as the adhesive flows onto the surface (also referred to as“wet out”)

Typical Properties

Typical Physical Properties

Cure basis: 60 minutes at 125°C (time at temperature after the part reaches target temperature).

Property	Typical value	Test method
Color	Gray
Adhesive Type	Acrylic
Density	710 kg/m³	ASTM D3574
Adhesive Carrier	Conformable Acrylic Foam (closed cell)
Total Tape Thickness	1.6 mm	ASTM D3652
Thickness Tolerance	±10 %
Liner	Red PE film with 3M™ VHB™ print
90 Peel Adhesion	34 N/cm	ASTM D330
Normal Tensile	720 kPa	ASTM D897
Overlap Shear Strength	570 kPa	ASTM D1002, ISO 4587
Static Shear	1000 g @ 23 °C , 500 g @ 177 °C
Minimum Application Temperature	10 °C
Short Term Temp Resistance	230 °C
Long Term Temp Resistance	150 °C

Storage and handling (per technical data sheet)

Shelf life of each component is 24 months when stored at 4°C - 38°C and 0-95% relative humidity. The optimal storage conditions are 22°C (72°F) and 50% relative humidity.

The manufacturing date is available on all 3M™ VHB™ Tapes as the lot number, typically marked on the core or on a label on the outer roll lap. The lot number, typically a 4 digit code, is a Julian date (Y D D D). The first digit refers to the year of manufacture, the last 3 digits refer to the days after January 1.

Example: A lot number of 7266 (or 17266) would translate to a date of manufacture of Sept. 23 (266th day of year) in 2017.

Applications

Surface Preparation and Application Techniques

Proper surface preparation and application technique are critical to achieving the maximum bond strength, durability, and long-term performance of 3M VHB™ Tape GPH-160GF across a wide range of industrial substrates and operating conditions.

Surface Preparation

Clean: Most substrates should be cleaned with a 70/30 mixture of (IPA*)/Water prior to applying 3M™ VHB™ Tape.

Exceptions that may require additional surface preparation include:
• Heavy Oils: A degreaser or solvent-based cleaner may be required to remove heavy oil or grease from a surface and
should be followed by cleaning with IPA/water.
• Abrasion: Abrading a surface, followed by cleaning with IPA/water, can remove heavy dirt or oxidation and can
increase surface area to improve adhesion.
• Adhesion Promoters: Priming a surface can significantly improve initial and ultimate adhesion to many materials such
as plastics and paints.
• Porous surfaces: Most porous and fibered materials such as wood, particleboard, concrete, etc. need to be sealed to
provide a unified surface.
• Unique Materials: Special surface preparation may be needed for glass and glass-like materials, copper and copper
containing metals, and plastics or rubber that contain components that migrate (e.g. plasticizers).

Initial and Final Pressure Application:

Bond strength is dependent upon the amount of adhesive-to-surface contact developed. Firm application pressure develops better adhesive contact and helps improve bond strength. Typically, good surface contact can be attained by applying enough pressure to ensure that the tape experiences approximately 100 kPa (15 psi) of pressure. Either roller or platen pressure can be used. When bonding two rigid parts, additional final pressure is often required to ensure that the bond line experiences 100 kPa (15 psi).

Tape Application Temperature

The ideal tape application temperature range for 3M™ VHB™ Tapes is generally 21°C to 38°C (70°F to 100°F). Pressure-sensitive adhesives use viscous flow to achieve substrate contact area. The minimum suggested application temperature for most 3M™ VHB™ Tapes is 10°C to 15°C (50°F to 60°F)

*Note: Initial tape application to surfaces at temperatures below these suggested minimums is not suggested because the adhesive becomes too firm to adhere readily. Ideally, all substrates and tape should be conditioned above the minimum application temperature in covered, weatherproof conditions until it is verified the substrates are at or above the minimum temperature. Once properly applied, low-temperature holding is generally satisfactory.

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Product Performance

Bond Build Rate

After application, the bond strength will gradually increase as the adhesive flows onto to the surface (also referred to as “wet out”). The bond build rate will depend on both tape and substrate, but generally, at room temperature, approximately 50% of ultimate bond strength will be achieved after 20 minutes, 90% after 24 hours, and 100% after 72 hours. Adhesive flow is faster at higher temperatures and slower at lower temperatures. Ultimate bond strength can be accelerated (and in some cases bond strength can be increased) by exposure to elevated temperature (e.g. 66°C [150°F] for 1 hour). This can provide better adhesive wet out onto the substrates. Abrasion (~180 grit), or the use of primers/adhesion promoters, can also increase both bond strength as well as the bond build rate.

Technical Guidance

Tips and Troubleshooting

Issue	Recommended Action
Adhesion	Adhesion to the substrate is critical to achieving high bond strength. Adhesives must flow onto the substrate surfaces in order to achieve an intimate contact area and allow the molecular force of attraction to develop. The degree of flow of the adhesive on the substrate is largely determined by the surface energy of the substrate.
Tape Usage	Use the right amount of VHB™ Tape to handle the expected stresses. Because 3M™ VHB™ Tapes are viscoelastic by nature, their strength and stiffness is a function of the rate at which they are stressed. They behave stronger when experiencing a higher rate of stress load (dynamic stresses) and will tend to show creep behavior with stress loads that act over a long period of time (static stresses). As a general rule, for static loads, approximately four square inches of tape should be used for each pound (57 cm² of tape per kg) of weight to be supported in order to prevent excessive creep. For dynamic loads a useful design factor is 12 lb/in2 (85 kPa) for most dynamic stresses in general applications.
Tape Thickness	Achieving good contact is also important. The necessary thickness of tape depends on the rigidity of substrates as well as their flatness and/or irregularity. While 3M™ VHB™ Tape will conform to a certain amount of irregularity, they will not flow to fill large gaps between the materials. When bonding rigid materials with normal flatness, consider use of tapes with thickness of 45 mils (1.1 mm) or greater. As substrate flexibility increases, thinner tapes may be considered.
Thermal Expansion/Contraction	3M™ VHB™ Tapes perform well in applications where two bonded surfaces may expand and contract at different rates. Assuming good adhesion to both substrates, VHB™ Tape can typically tolerate differential movement in the shear plane up to 3 times (300%) of their thickness.
Bond Flexibility	While an advantage for many applications where allowing differential movement is a benefit, the tape bonds are typically more flexible than alternative fastening methods. Suitable design modifications or periodic use of rigid fasteners/adhesives may be necessary if additional stiffness is required.

Next Steps

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