Good morning, I am the President of RipTide Sports Inc. and we would like to offer our capabilities to make custom parts out of urethane using our open molding process. As you may know, urethanes offer characteristic that can be modified to suit the product requirement of your design as described below. Please email me directly at [email protected] if you would like to confidentially discuss you idea for a new product.
Polyurethane Advantages Wide Range of Hardness The classification of hardness for polyurethane relies on the prepolymerās molecular structure can be manufactured from 20 SHORE A to 85 SHORE D
High Load Bearing Capacity Polyurethane has a high load capacity in both tension and compression. Polyurethane may undergo a change in shape under a heavy load, but will return to its original shape once the load is removed with little compression set in the material when designed properly for a given application.
Flexibility Polyurethanes perform very well when used in high flex fatigue applications. Flexural properties can be isolated allowing for very good elongation and recovery properties.
Abrasion & Impact Resistance For applications where severe wear prove challenging, polyurethanes are an ideal solution even at low temperatures.
Tear Resistance Polyurethanes possess high tear resistance along with high tensile properties.
Resistance to Water, Oil & Grease Polyurethaneās material properties will remain stable (with minimal swelling) in water / oil / grease. Polyether compounds will last many years in subsea applications.
Electrical Properties Polyurethanes exhibit good electrical insulating properties.
Wide Resiliency Range Resilience is generally a function of hardness. For shock-absorbing elastomer applications, low rebound compounds are usually used i.e. resilience range of 10-40%. For high frequency vibrations or where quick recovery is required, compounds in the 40-65% resilience are used. In general, toughness is enhanced by high resilience.
Strong Bonding Properties Polyurethane bonds to a wide range of materials during the manufacturing process. These materials include other plastics, metals, and wood. This property makes polyurethane an ideal material for wheels, rollers, and inserts.
Performance in Harsh Environments Polyurethane is very resistant to temperature extremes, meaning harsh environmental conditions and many chemicals will not cause material degradation.
Mold, Mildew & Fungus Resistance Most polyether based polyurethanes do not support fungal / mold / mildew growth and are therefore highly suitable for tropical environments and FDA applications. Special additives can also be added to reduce this in polyester materials as well.
Color Ranges Varying color pigments can be added to polyurethane in the manufacturing process. Ultraviolet shielding can be incorporated into the pigment to provide better color stability in outdoor applications.
Economical Manufacturing Process Polyurethane is often used to manufacture one-off parts, prototypes or high volume, repeat production runs. Size ranges vary from a couple grams to 2000lb parts.
Short Production Lead Times Compared to conventional thermoplastic materials polyurethane has a relatively short lead time with significantly more economical tooling costs.