Sika AnchorFix®-2+ Tropical
Two-part, styrene-free epoxy acrylate anchoring adhesive engineered to gel predictably and reach full cure in around 40 minutes at Indian summer temperatures of 35-40 degrees C.
What is it?
A two-component, solvent- and styrene-free epoxy acrylate chemical anchor in a coaxial cartridge with a fixed 10:1 metering ratio, formulated specifically for hot and tropical climates.
Where is it used?
Post-installed rebar, threaded rods, bolts and dowels in cracked and uncracked concrete, solid masonry and hard natural stone – from building extensions to plant and infrastructure fixings.
Why use it?
Ordinary resin anchors gel almost instantly or cure erratically in a Delhi or Chennai summer; the Tropical grade holds a workable open time and carries ETA approval for structural anchors and rebar connections.
How is it applied?
Injected through a static mixer into a drilled, brushed and blown-clean hole, after which the bar is pushed in with a slight twist and left undisturbed until cure.
About Sika AnchorFix®-2+ Tropical
Sika AnchorFix-2+ Tropical is Sika’s medium-to-heavy-duty injection anchor tuned for job sites where the substrate itself can sit above 35 degrees C for most of the working day. Chemically it is an epoxy acrylate – a resin family that cures by rapid free-radical reaction rather than the slow cross-linking of pure epoxies – and Sika has balanced the formulation so the reaction stays controllable in heat instead of flashing off in the mixer nozzle. Being solvent- and styrene-free, it carries none of the sharp odour of older polyester anchors, which matters in occupied buildings and confined plant rooms.
For specifiers, the product’s real weight is in its paperwork: ETA-14/0346 covers bonded anchors in both cracked and uncracked concrete under Option 1, ETA-13/0779 covers post-installed rebar connections, and WRAS approval 1604543 clears it for contact with drinking water. That combination lets a consultant design connections against European assessment data rather than bare catalogue numbers. Space Arc Engineering stocks the cartridges in Delhi NCR, supplies Pan-India, and can pair supply with trained applicator crews and design-table support for rebar dowelling jobs.
The technical insight
A chemical anchor transfers load through adhesion and micro-mechanical keying along the full embedment length, not through the expansion pressure a mechanical wedge anchor exerts. That is why bonded anchors tolerate closer edge distances and tighter spacings – there is no bursting force trying to split the concrete cover. The engineering problem in India is temperature: reaction rate roughly doubles with every 10 degree rise, so a resin with a comfortable 15-minute gel time in a European spring can set in under a minute inside a 45 degree hole. The Tropical formulation shifts the initiator-inhibitor balance so that at 35-40 degrees C you still get about 3.5 minutes to inject and set the bar, and the same chemistry then works in your favour – full structural cure arrives in roughly 40 minutes, letting follow-on trades load the connection the same shift.
Where it is used
- Post-installed starter bars and dowels for slab, beam and column extensions under ETA-13/0779
- Threaded-rod anchoring for baseplates, racking and machinery in cracked or uncracked concrete
- Safety-relevant fixings such as crash barriers, handrails, gantries and facade brackets
- Overhead and inclined anchors for pipe supports, cable trays and HVAC hangers under slabs
- Fixings inside potable-water structures – reservoirs, WTP channels – under WRAS approval
- Anchoring into solid masonry, and into hard natural stone subject to site pull-out tests
- Retrofit dowelling in structural rehabilitation and seismic strengthening schemes
- Any summer or hot-region programme where standard resin anchors cure unreliably
Key advantages
- Cures dependably in heat – roughly 40 minutes to full cure at 35-40 degrees C substrate temperature
- Twin ETAs (14/0346 Option 1 and 13/0779) allow code-based design in cracked and uncracked concrete
- Solvent- and styrene-free, so low odour for indoor, occupied or poorly ventilated locations
- Non-sag consistency holds in horizontal and overhead holes without slumping out
- Fixed 10:1 coaxial cartridge with static mixer removes hand-batching and ratio errors
- Expansion-free load transfer permits reduced edge distances versus mechanical anchors
- WRAS Approval 1604543 for drinking-water contact applications
- Wide service envelope: -40 to +50 degrees C long term, short peaks to +80 degrees C
Limitations & considerations
- Open time is short by design – about 3.5 minutes at 35-40 degrees C – so bars must be cut, cleaned and staged before injection begins
- Application window is +15 to +40 degrees C for product, air and substrate; it is not a cold-weather anchor
- Capacity collapses in dirty holes: drilling dust, slurry or standing water must be fully removed, and genuinely wet or weeping holes are unsuitable
- Long-term service is capped at +50 degrees C and the resin carries no inherent fire rating – fire-case anchor design needs separate assessment
- For large annular gaps, deep bulk pours or long repositioning time, a pure epoxy or cementitious anchor grout is the better tool
- Characteristic loads, embedments and spacings must be taken from the ETA and current TDS, never estimated on site
Selection & best practice
Drill to the diameter and embedment given in the ETA tables, then clean the hole with the full blow-brush-blow cycle (compressed air, steel brush, air again – twice through). Check the substrate is at least 3 degrees C above dew point. Fit the static mixer, gun out and discard resin until the mix shows a single uniform colour, then inject from the bottom of the hole, withdrawing the nozzle slowly and filling to roughly two-thirds depth. Insert the bar with a slow twisting push so resin wets the full ribbed surface, remove excess, and leave the anchor completely undisturbed through the gel period. Apply load only after full cure – about 40 minutes at 35-40 degrees C, stretching to 5 hours at 15-20 degrees C. On hot sites, store cartridges in shade; a cartridge that has been sitting at 45 degrees C will gel noticeably faster than the substrate temperature suggests.
Specifications
| Chemical base | Two-component epoxy acrylate; solvent- and styrene-free |
| Mixing ratio | Component A : B = 10 : 1 by volume (cartridge-metered) |
| Application temperature | +15 °C to +40 °C (product, ambient and substrate) |
| Open (gel) time | Approx. 15 min at +15–20 °C; approx. 3.5 min at +35–40 °C |
| Full curing time | Approx. 5 h at +15–20 °C; approx. 40 min at +35–40 °C |
| Service temperature | −40 °C to +50 °C long term; up to +80 °C short term (1–2 h) |
| Approvals | ETA-14/0346 (bonded anchors, Option 1); ETA-13/0779 (post-installed rebar); CE marked |
| Drinking-water approval | WRAS Approval No. 1604543 |
| Packaging (India) | 380 ml and 550 ml cartridges, 12 per box |
Industry use cases
Buildings & Real Estate
Starter-bar connections for vertical extensions, new shear walls and slab infills, designed against the ETA-13/0779 rebar assessment rather than rule-of-thumb embedments.
Industrial Plants
Machine baseplates, racking legs and equipment anchors installed during short shutdowns – the 40-minute hot-weather cure gets lines back into service within the same window.
Infrastructure
Crash-barrier posts, sign gantries and rehabilitation dowels on bridges and flyovers, where cracked-concrete Option 1 cover is the qualifying requirement.
Water & Utilities
Fixings for pipework, walkways and equipment inside water-treatment and storage structures, using the WRAS drinking-water approval.
MEP Contractors
Overhead anchors for duct, pipe and cable-tray supports in occupied hospitals, malls and IT parks, where the low-odour styrene-free chemistry avoids complaints.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Tropical grade different from standard Sika AnchorFix-2+?
How soon can the anchor be loaded?
Is it approved for cracked concrete?
Can it be injected into damp or wet holes?
What hole size and embedment should I use for a given rod?
How many anchors will one cartridge give me?
How we position Sika AnchorFix®-2+ Tropical
Within the Sika family, AnchorFix-2+ Tropical sits between light-duty polyester anchors and Sika’s pure-epoxy systems: where you need longer open time, larger annular gaps or deep embedments, step up to a pure epoxy such as Sika AnchorFix-3030, and for baseplate underfilling rather than drilled anchors use a SikaGrout cementitious grout. From our other brands, the Fosroc Lokfix cartridge range covers routine fixings and Fosroc Conbextra handles precision baseplate grouting. Space Arc supplies all of these and will recommend against over-specifying when a lighter anchor genuinely does the job.
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Source Sika AnchorFix®-2+ Tropical for your project
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