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Polyurethane Specifications, Applications, and Chemical Urethane Compatibility

custom urethane products, polyurethane resistance to chemicals

In today’s competitive environment, companies are trying to stretch their dollars and make them count. If you purchase a material that does not hold up to various operating conditions, your downtime can cost man-hours and production loss. These issues could have been prevented by choosing a superior product.

Custom urethane products deliver important advantages over conventional elastomers and plastics – they are stronger, tougher, more durable, and more versatile. Urethanes offer more value than parts made with other materials that often crack, break, tear, swell, deteriorate, and abrade. As a result, urethanes often provide longer run times and fewer disruptions to operations. With custom urethane products from PSI Urethanes, you may never have to replace your parts again. Below is more information about PSI’s polyurethane applications, specifications, and urethane chemical compatibility.

Polyurethane Applications

Many industries rely on polyurethane products as there is a wide range of applications. For over 50 years, PSI has provided custom urethane products for applications including but not limited to:

  • Metal forming pads
  • Cutting surfaces
  • Bumpers
  • Shock absorbers
  • Drive and pinch rolls
  • Tubes
  • Bushings
  • Sheeting
  • Mounts
  • Flexible couplings
  • Rollers
  • Capper rings
  • Couplings
  • Scraper blades
  • Gaskets and seals
  • Chute and hopper liners
  • Rods
  • Slitter rings
  • Washers

Polyurethane Specifications

When creating a polyurethane product, there are countless formulation choices that will affect performance. Sorting through the options to determine what is best for your product can be a daunting task. At PSI, we recommend that customers focus on 3 key specifications for their urethane product: durometer, dimensional tolerances, and physical properties such as compression set, elongation, tear resistance, tensile strength, and resistance to chemicals. Once these specifications are better defined, you will have a clearer vision for the needs of your urethane application. Click here to learn more about these 3 design criteria and the process for creating custom urethane products.

Does your team need a custom urethane product with excellent resistance to chemicals?

Contact the team at PSI to learn more about our custom polyurethane solutions.

Urethane Chemical Compatibility

Urethanes remain stable performers when exposed to a broad range of adverse conditions and a wide spectrum of chemicals and contaminants. Resistance to chemicals and chemical compatibility are key properties that distinguish urethane products from the competition. In fact, urethane products do not tend to deteriorate appreciably with age and are known for having long life cycles – often lasting longer than the system they are installed in. For this reason, many industries prefer the versatility and durability of urethane over metal, rubber, and plastic. Below are more details on urethane’s resistance to chemicals and the elements.

  • Resistance to Contaminants: compared to other material options, urethane products are more tolerant of and less likely to degrade when exposed to greases, oils, fuels, salts, solvents, rust, and chemicals – making urethane an excellent option for the automotive, transport, and machinery sectors. Urethane is also able to maintain its shape with little swelling, if any, when submerged in water or oils.
  • Resistance to Elements: other materials, like rubber, are more susceptible to degradation due to environmental factors. Polyurethane, on the other hand, is resistant to weather conditions such as extreme low and high operating temperatures, ozone, UV rays, and humidity – making urethane a viable material for applications nearly anywhere in the world.

Urethane’s resistance to chemicals is affected by the chemical’s concentrations, temperature and duration of contact with the urethane. Additionally, the chemistry used to produce a urethane part greatly influences its chemical resistance. Therefore, when developing a formulation, it is important to provide as much information as possible about the stresses and environment the product will see when in use. That information will allow the team at PSI to select a formulation that best meets your needs. Visit our website to learn more about polyurethane’s chemical compatibility and to view PSI’s chemical resistance guide.

About PSI Urethanes

With over 50 years of experience delivering the highest quality urethane products, PSI Urethanes stands unequaled in helping companies in hundreds of industries around the world apply urethane products to their critical business applications. Since 1966, through our own independent research and activity in the Polyurethane Manufacturers Association, PSI Urethanes has stayed on the leading edge of urethane technology – including developing advances in new materials, comprehensive designs, and processing technologies. Today we are among the most respected and trusted suppliers of custom urethane products.

We operate from our 45,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, which houses an extensive stock of polyurethane products. 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. Our in-house engineering, tooling, and custom mold shop, produces custom and stock production orders with exceptionally fast turn-around times. From conception to prototyping, to final production runs, our technical representatives and design engineers will work closely with your staff to meet your critical tolerances and specifications. You are guaranteed to receive experienced, professional, and personalized service from the first contact through your on-time delivery, with complete confidentiality and dedication to protecting your good name.

PSI Urethanes specializes in custom urethane projects. Contact us today to see how we can help with your next project, or give us a call at 1-800-888-5156.