When designing a custom urethane product, there are countless formulation choices that will affect performance. Because of this, sorting through the choices to determine what is best for your product can be a daunting task. To help, below are 3 key considerations that should be discussed with your urethane supplier as part of the process of creating a custom urethane formulation.
Additionally, it is valuable to work with a trusted partner, like PSI Urethanes, that has the proven experience to guide clients through the process – and offer strategic advice – to create the right custom urethane formulation for your specific needs. With over 50 years of experience delivering the highest quality urethane products, PSI stands unequaled in helping companies in hundreds of industries around the world apply urethane products to their critical business applications.
- Part History
When you are creating a custom urethane formulation, it is important to explain the history of the part to your supplier. Will the product replace an existing part or is the product for a new application? For new applications, your supplier can work closely with you from concept to prototype to production to meet the requisite tolerances and specifications.
For existing parts, your custom urethane supplier will want to better understand the current application including the required volume, materials currently being used, and what challenges, if any, need to be resolved. Additionally, take this opportunity to collaborate with your custom urethane partner about any design changes you would like, keeping in mind that changing design elements such as durometer, material, and dimensions can drastically change the functionality of the product. Providing your supplier with current material specs, samples and any advantages and disadvantages of the existing product enables them to design a new, cost-effective version that will deliver optimum performance.
- Application and Operating Conditions
When creating a custom urethane formulation, it is paramount to explain the application and operating conditions to your supplier – in detail. This information will enable your custom urethane supplier to create the best formulation for your specific needs.
Environmental elements such as heat, humidity, ozone, acids, chemicals, UV light, and water can have a detrimental effect on the function of the part; thus, suppliers must account for these conditions when developing a custom urethane formulation in order to minimize the impact of these environments. OEMs should also provide details about the desired functionality of the part such as hours of run time per day, speed, load, and if the cycles are continuous or intermittent. Clearly communicating information about the operating environment will give your custom urethane supplier a good understanding of how to achieve a formulation that provides maximum results.
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Contact the professionals at PSI to learn more about range of solutions including urethane bonding.
- Critical Tolerances and Properties
Tolerance is the allowable variation from a set dimension. OEMs must be specific when describing critical tolerances for their product. Some parts require tight tolerances in order to achieve extreme precision in the field while other parts have more flexibility on tolerances. Tolerances are a crucial discussion to have upfront with your custom urethane supplier.
Custom urethane formulations can be created to deliver a wide range of physical properties in the final product that significantly impact performance. Some critical properties that OEMs should align on with their custom urethane supplier include the following. Visit PSI’s website for more details on these custom urethane properties.
- Durometer (hardness)
- Tensile Strength
- Load Bearing
- Resilience
- Abrasion and tear resistance
- Compression set
- Elongation
PSI’s Custom Urethane Solutions
At PSI, we welcome the challenge that custom urethane products can bring. Our in-house engineering and technical assistance staff can help you create custom urethane molded parts that meet your application needs and solve your problems. We have a wide range of formulations that can be geared specifically to your requirements. Our custom urethane solutions entail:
- Broad Range of Durometers: using the above resins, we can manufacture durometersfrom 25 shore OO (soft as a marshmallow) to 70 shore D (hard as a bowling ball). All of our polyurethane formulations can be produced in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
- Custom Molds: our in-house mold making shop allows us to produce your custom production orders fast. PSI produces urethane products ranging in size from less than a gram to over 2500 pounds. Cast polyurethane is an ideal material for constructing parts that require tough physical propertiesand superior impact resistance.
- Bonding and Recovery: we can bond our polyurethane to metal and many other substrates. If you have rollers or wheels that need to be recovered, we can strip off the old material and recover them with the polyurethane formulation that best fits the application. That is a cost-savings for many customers, especially when the cores or inserts are intricate or pricey.
- Prototypes to High Volumes: our fully equipped manufacturing facility includes a versatile range of processing machinery, which allows us to work on unique, one-of-a-kind projects, as well as high volume components. We are also known for our willingness to do short-run production and prototypes.
PSI Urethanes specializes in custom urethane projects. Contact us today to see how we can help with your next custom urethane project, or give us a call at 1-800-888-5156.