urethane casting / molding
for the future

urethane casting / molding

polyurethane molding

The polyurethane (urethane) molding process is a cost efficient, more precise alternative to others such as injection molding, RIM, structural foam molding or machining. Tooling and equipment costs are lower because castings can be made from plastic, metal, fiberglass-reinforced epoxy or urethane itself - almost anything that doesn't hold moisture and can take the modest heat of casting operations. It's also an ideal fabrication process for identical parts with intricate details.

selecting a polyurethane for a new application:

1)  Decide which properties are most importance - physical and environmental resistance
2)  Select polymer/curative systems which are likely candidates
3)  Consult your suppliers for recommendations and further information
4)  Review your plant capabilities
5)  Run any available preliminary tests
6)  Field test in actual service, make comparisons, get approval from future end users
7)  Gear-up for production

First, look at the application very carefully and decide which properties are of key importance for your part - both in terms of the physical properties and the environmental resistance necessary in the urethane. Select a few candidate polymer and curative systems which should offer appropriate performance. Once you have done this, go to urethane suppliers for their recommendations and more information. They will certainly be willing to help you and will welcome discussion of new applications. The suppliers may also help with suggestions of materials or test data that is not available in their published literature.

Next, review your plant capabilities. Make sure the compounds you have chosen are ones that can be run in your plant either under its present setup or, barring that, what sort of investment might be required for processing the proposed material. Depending on the potential market for application, a new investment may be justified.

Now run whatever preliminary tests are available. If it is a new application, for example, if the urethane must come in contact with an unusual chemical solution, make sure that the type you select can tolerate this. Test the material by immersion, and ask your suppliers for help on this as well. They will usually be willing to run tests of this type for you.

If everything continues to look good, make prototype units of one or more candidate materials. Make sure, of course, that your prototypes are well identified so they don't get misplaced in the field and, importantly, so that their service history can be properly tracked. Once the polyurethane parts are out in actual service, compare the performance of these test units against whatever is currently being used. If it's a brand new application where nothing like it ever has been done before, test it against whatever criteria you or the end user have in mind.

Finally, verify that the end user agrees on the test results and approves the polyurethane part based on the prototype evaluation.

POLYCRAFT PRODUCTS, INC. provides high quality custom service for the aerospace, automotive, medical and other industries in four key areas:

                                       Machining of metallic and non-metallic components
                                       Molding of custom components
                                       Bonding of a variety of dissimilar materials, and assembly
                                       Repair of complex components

Close tolerance precision work, quick turnaround and a reasonable cost.

When Results Count...Count On Polycraft.

polyurethane parts | polyurethane molding | prototyping 
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silicone rubber seals to specifications

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Polycraft Products, Inc.
5511 State Route 128, Cincinnati Ohio 45002