VHB, or Very High Bond (creative huh? :P) tape was, as many great inventions are, a lab mistake. They were working on a double coated foam tape when VHB was invented. To understand the difference you need to think and understand the difference between double coated/double sided" foam tape, and VHB.
Double coated foam tape is a foam, with a layer of adhesive on either side. A foam can be helpful for example, when a little cushioning is needed. The other thing you can create with a doubled coated foam, is a tape differential. Say you needed to stick one side to wood, and one side to plastic, or you needed one side removable, you can coat the foam with a different adhesive and get the desired result.
The weak point in a double coated foam, is almost always the foam. Often, maybe after time, or enough strain, the item held by a foam, falls. You notice that the foam will actually split, rather than a the good 3M adhesive failing.
You have to understand this to understand the advantage of the VHB. In a lab, over 25 years ago, 3M was cooking, coating, doing something to a double coated foam and they found they could get the adhesive to flow, for lack of a better word, into the foam. Would this did is create think "foam" adhesive, with all of the spacing and cushioning benefits, while greatly improving the strength of the foam.
Now I will admit, there is something call VHB "transfer tapes," which creates a bunch of confusion based on what I just told you. 3M's marketing people don't always make it easy, and I will try and explain that one in another post.
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