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PU Formulation Tips: Selecting the Right Polyurethane Shore for Custom Urethane

PU formulation, durometer scale, custom urethane product

Some products require a custom urethane formulation in order to achieve the desired properties and requisite specifications. When creating a custom part, there are countless polyurethane formulation choices that will affect performance. Sorting through the options to determine what is best for your product can be challenging. For this reason, it is helpful to work with a proven and knowledgeable partner, like PSI Urethanes, that can guide customers through the process of developing the right formulation that will yield your custom urethane product. Leveraging our 50+ years of industry experience, PSI technical representatives and design staff will work closely with you to meet your specifications – from concept to prototype to production.

What is Durometer and Polyurethane Shore?

There are many factors that will impact the performance, durability, and ultimately, the lifespan of your custom urethane product. When developing a polyurethane formulation, one key factor to consider is durometer.

Durometer is a measurement of a material’s hardness. There are several scales used for durometer readings with Shore OO, Shore A, and Shore D being the most common for urethane. Higher numbers on the scale indicate a higher resistance to indentation and a harder material, whereas, lower numbers indicate less resistance and a softer material. For example, a low Shore OO number denotes an extremely soft material while a high Shore D number denotes a very rigid, hard material. The visual below shows the range of each scale and the overlap between the scales. Click here for some suggested durometer ranges for various urethane applications.

PU formulation, durometer scale, custom urethane product
Urethane Durometer Scales

The range of durometers at which urethane can be produced is extremely versatile. In fact, urethane’s durometer can range from as soft as a marshmallow to as hard as a bowling ball, providing a variety of options for your custom polyurethane formulation. When selecting the right polyurethane shore for your custom urethane product, you should consider the desired functionality of the product as well as the amount of weight the part will need to support, frequency and strength of any impact, and compression and flexibility needs.

Could your project benefit from a custom polyurethane formulation?

Contact the professionals at PSI Urethanes to learn more about our custom solutions.

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. Below are some highlights about our custom urethane solutions.

  • Custom Materials: our in-house resins include TDI ethers and esters, MDI ethers and esters, and aliphatic resins. If you require a resin that we do not carry in-house, we can order it and manufacture your products.
  • Broad Range of Durometers: using the above resins, we can manufacture durometers from 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 properties and 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.

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 cast 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.