Polyurethane Properties

Products made with polyurethanes are tougher, stronger and more durable than products made with conventional plastics and elastomers. Polyurethanes have a remarkable range of properties that outperform wood, rubber, metals and plastics.

Polyurethanes

Why Polyurethane?

Because it is a unique engineering material that gives you the power to design in properties impossible to capture with other materials plus the power to improve cost performance and find novel solutions to thousands of difficult engineering properties.

Polyurethane plastics are a unique design that combine many of the advantages of plastics, metals, and ceramics with the flexibility and resilience of rubber.

Chemically they are polymers containing urethane groups created by reacting isocyanates with polyols and chain extenders. By varying the three components a processor can create thousands of different combinations of properties. Because of this versatility polyurethanes can be made for a wide variety of applications.

The casting of polyurethanes can result in lower costs compared to other materials. Low pressure, liquid casting means low cost tooling, economical low-volume production and greater design flexibility.

RESISTENT TO OIL, GREASE, AND CHEMICALS
Polyurethanes resist a much wider range of substances than do rubbers and plastics.

BONDING
Polyurethanes can be bonded to a wide variety of substrates including wood, plastic, and metal. Bonding to these substrates actually makes the polyurethane even tougher.

NOISE REDUCTION
Special formulations for noise and vibration applications are available. However, these formulations are low in resilience.

DUROMETER

Polyurethane elastomers can be formulated to a hardness of 10 - 15 A ( gum eraser ) or as hard as 90D ( a golf ball ). Polyurethanes have a hardness conventional rubbers.

ABRASION RESISTENCE
An important benefit of polyurethane is they outperform plastics, rubber and metals where severe abrasion resistance is required. Frequently, less polyurethane material is needed to perform the same as other elastomers. Other benefits include lighter weight, longer life, less maintenance and replacement costs.

LOAD-BEARING CAPACITY
Polyurethanes have greater load-bearing capacities than other elastomers at the same hardness. They are excellent for tires and stripper springs.

RESISTANT TO IMPACT
Plastics become more brittle with higher durometer formulations while polyurethanes remain elastic and therefore more resistant to fractures.

WIDE RESILIENCE RANGE
Polyurethanes do not need to be soft to be resilient. They can be formulated for rebound values from 10% to 50%.

HIGH FLEX APPLICATIONS
Polyurethanes, like other elastomers, resist cracking from repeated flexing. Cracking can be reduced by making the part thinner. Polyurethanes can be made very thin and still remain strong and tough.

LOW TEMPERATURES
Depending on formulations polyurethanes can remain flexible in Arctic-like temperatures. In addition, polyurethanes are resistant to thermal shock.

ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
Most polyurethanes are excellent insulators. They are used extensively in encapsulating applications.