Rings are a simple but often integral element of manufacturing processes. If your application requires a material with unmatched durability, urethane rings are the way to go. PSI’s rings have several important applications and benefits due to their tough premium grade urethane, which ensures they will hold up across a wide range of applications. Common applications for our urethane rings include seals, inserts, spacers, retainers, bushings, vibration isolators, capper rings, packing rings, and tubular springs.
With a long history of outstanding quality, superior product performance, and excellent customer service, PSI Urethanes is a trusted provider of custom urethane rings. PSI produces cast polyurethane rings made from premium grade urethane, making our rings suitable for a myriad of applications. With PSI’s custom urethane rings, our customers are often able to reduce equipment downtime and save on material costs due to longer life spans. Companies in hundreds of industries around the world rely on our urethane products for their critical business applications.
Reasons Why OEMs Prefer Urethane Over Rubber
While there are many materials to choose from, many sectors prefer urethane rings over rubber due to its superior properties and performance. Urethane is an elastomer that can range from very soft to very hard. Urethanes are known for their outstanding stability and ability to withstand harsh environments including extreme temperatures and exposure to a range of chemicals, oils, water, and ozone. Below are several reasons why urethane rings outperform rubber.
- Non-Marring: urethane rings do not mar material they touch whereas rubbers that contain carbon can leave black marks on products during contact.
- Strong Chemical and Water Resistance: when it comes to resistance to chemicals, oxygen, and ozone, urethane rings are superior to rubber. Urethane has excellent resistance to mineral-based oils, hydrocarbons, fats, greases, petroleum products, and specific solvents. Additionally, urethane rings outperform rubber in applications that are either submerged or exposed to wet environments for an extended period of time, where rubber may rot. It should be noted that urethane’s resistance to chemicals is affected by the chemical’s concentrations, temperature and duration of contact with the urethane. Visit our website to learn more about urethane’s chemical compatibility and to view PSI’s chemical resistance guide.
- Superb Abrasion Resistance: urethane has great abrasion and wear resistance, resulting in longer product life cycles compared to rubber. In fact, when severe abrasion is a factor, urethane rings have been known to outwear other materials by a factor of at least five-to-one. In cases where urethane rings experience a great deal of abrasion from combining dynamic loads and high friction, urethane surpasses natural rubber.
- Incredible Tensile Strength & Elongation: urethane rings have a higher load-bearing capacity and are able to handle more pounds per square inch than rubber without rupturing and breaking apart.
- Withstand Extreme Temperatures: while rubber tends to harden, urethane rings remain flexible at low temperatures. The professionals at PSI can formulate urethane to remain stable and flexible in Arctic-like conditions as well as temperatures as high as 250° Fahrenheit – all without sacrificing performance. Urethane rings are also able to tolerate sudden swings in temperature better than rubber.
- Excellent Elasticity: unlike many rubbers, urethane rings maintain their elasticity and strength over the complete range of durometers (hardness). Urethanes can be formulated to stretch and still return to their original dimensions, even at high durometers.
- Range of Compression: urethane is a better option than rubber when it comes to compression set. At PSI, we have custom formulations for urethane rings in a variety of durometers ranging from “dead” for shock absorbing and “rebound” for repeated flexing.
- Outstanding Shock Absorption: urethane rings offer great shock absorption and noise reduction, resulting in a much quieter operating environment.
- Electrical Conductivity: urethanes are known for their excellent insulating properties. At PSI, we can adjust the level of electrical conductivity to suit your specific needs for your rings.
- Static Dissipative: the team at PSI is also able to create custom urethane rings that are static dissipative. Visit our website for more details on our static dissipative urethanes.
- Broad Range of Customization including Durometers and Colors:urethane is versatile and can be customized to your specific requirements. Unlike rubber, the team at PSI can create custom urethane formulations across a range of durometers. Our durometer range for urethane rings is listed below. Also, PSI also carries a wide variety of resins, curatives, and additives, enabling our team to further customize and achieve the desired properties for your urethane rings.
- 25 Shore OO
- 40 Shore OO
- 50 Shore OO
- 70 Shore OO
- 20 Shore A to 90 Shore A
- 50 Shore D to 70 Shore D
- Superior Longevity: most of the properties mentioned above lead to a longer life span for urethane products. A longer service life results in fewer downtimes for maintenance, yielding operational efficiencies, lower material expenses, and lower manufacturing costs – further making the case that urethane is superior to rubber – as well as metal and plastic.
Could your manufacturing process benefit from the durability and stability of urethane rings?
Contact the experts at PSI to learn more about our custom formulations for urethane rings.
PSI’s Custom Urethane Rings
Considering the various types of rings that can be created and the countless formulation choices that will affect performance, it is best to consult with experts in custom urethane formulation to ensure you get the right ring for your application. No matter the project, PSI is up to the challenge. 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 team will guide you through the design process to ensure we understand your ring’s history, operating conditions, and critical tolerances – enabling us to create the best formulation for your unique project.
PSI offers custom sizes, formulas, colors, and durometers (hardness), as well as tight tolerances, ground finishes, and dual durometer rings. PSI will help you develop prototypes and will deliver full production quantities when needed. Our custom rings have little or no tooling cost, and we can custom formulate products to meet your specific needs, including FDA wet or dry requirements. Watch our short video to learn more about PSI’s custom urethane formulations.
About PSI Urethanes
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 polyurethane 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 polyurethane products. Contact us today to see how we can help with your next project, or give us a call at 1-800-888-5156.