Material for Use in an Aggressive Environment
Polyurethane offers tremendous versatility due to its adjustable properties. This material is often used in the economical production of molded parts. It can also be easily combined with other materials. In addition, it meets the requirements of numerous applications in terms of weight reduction, strength, durability, moisture resistance and aesthetics.
Thus, the properties of ready-made polyurethane bushings can be adapted to a specific application, depending on the formulation used.
What is polyurethane?
Polyurethanes are plastics obtained by the reaction of polyols and isocyanates. At the same time, the properties of polyurethanes can vary as much as possible and therefore can be specially adjusted depending on the requirements.
Thus, foams, resins or elastomers are made from it. This versatility is also the reason that the material has endless possibilities of application. The most important advantages of polyurethane are the following:
- inexpensive mold design or tool design;
- high design freedom;
- weather and temperature resistance (Polyurethane does not lose its properties at temperatures from -45 to +80 degrees.);
- absorbs energy;
- lightweight and stable ((the tensile strength of polyurethane products is 3 times greater than that of rubber);
- easily combined with other materials (plastic, wood, metal);
- soundproof;
- biocompatible;
- low heat transfer coefficient.
All these advantages allow the use of polyurethane for the manufacture of parts working in an aggressive environment. Molded polyurethane parts are used as consumables for cars. For example, suspension bushings and silent blocks are the most striking examples of the use of polyurethane in a car. Polyurethane parts perfectly withstand large alternating loads in severe operating conditions and do not lose their qualities for many years. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the volume of polyurethane production has been steadily growing, this trend will undoubtedly continue in the future.