Polyurethane parts are increasingly replacing metal, rubber and other plastic components in a wide range of industries and applications. Each application has its own demands which dictate the properties that a suitable PU must possess.
The desired PU properties depend on the properties of the material that a particular PU is meant to replace. The replacement PU must offer clear advantages in performance and/or durability while preserving or enhancing the baseline properties of the original material.
- In comparison to metals, PU parts offer greater corrosion resistance, higher abrasion resistance, less noise, and high cost-efficiency.
- As a replacement for rubber, PU offers improved cut and abrasion resistance, greater load-bearing capacity and excellent chemical resistance.
- As a substitute for plastics, PU offers lower tooling costs, better elastomeric memory, increased hardness and improved mechanical properties.
Component manufacturers are continuing to replace more and more metal, rubber and other plastic parts with PU. The table below lists some of the industries and applications where PU parts are widely used.
| Industry |
Applications |
| Automotive & Transportation |
Bearings, bushes, flexible couplings, forklift tires, castor wheels, brake pads. Bumpers and suspension-mounts |
| Industrial Manufacturing |
Gears, sprockets, wire guides, cutting boards, machine belts and couplings, board rollers, nip rollers and screens |
| Food Processing |
Chute lining, grain buckets and scraper-blades |
| Building & Construction |
Concrete pump parts, molds, water proofing and gate seals |
| Oil, Mining and Chemicals |
Valve seats, pneumatic and oil seals, diaphragms, bushings, bearings, pipeline pigs, pump linings, lined pipes, cross-over pads, gaskets and conveyor rollers |
Some of these applications, however, have higher performance requirements that traditional PUs cannot meet.
Find out the key performance benefits you can obtain in your plastic parts using polycarbonate-polyurethanes (PC-PU) prepolymers…
Polycarbonate-based Polyurethanes for High-performance Applications
Polyurethanes with carbonate linkages incorporated in the chain are called polycarbonate-polyurethanes (PC-PU). PC-PUs are high-performance materials that exhibit superior properties and extreme durability, when compared to polyether-diol or polyester-diol based PUs.
Through the use of these materials, component manufacturers are able to enhance the durability and performance of PU parts. PC-PU parts are also able to replace metal and rubber parts that were previously running into performance and durability issues when made using traditional polyurethanes.
The durability and superior performance of polycarbonate-based polyurethanes, compared to their traditional polyester-based or polyether-based counterparts, is due to the presence of the carbonate group in the polymer. The carbonate group imparts:
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Superior load-bearing properties
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Excellent abrasion resistance
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Improved hydrolysis and chemical resistance
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Better thermal and oxidation stability, and
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Enhanced mechanical properties
» Continue reading to explore the properties of Polycarbonate-based polyurethanes prepolymers (PC-PUs) to produce high performance and durable industrial parts.