Advantages of Urethane Reaction Injection Molding Over Natural Materials

Urethane reaction injection molding has several advantages over using natural materials such as metal or rubber for molding, with the best being the superior physical properties. Second on the list of its advantages would be the diversity of items that can be fabricated with urethanes. Urethane, also called polyurethane, is sometimes known as an elastomer as well.

This type of material is used often in cushioning foams, wheels, seals and gaskets, printing rollers, automobile and electronic instrument parts. It usually is about the sixth or seventh most commonly used elastomer in the world, with thousands of formulations possible. Here, we’d like to address what can be gained by using urethane for casting various items needed in businesses worldwide.

Urethane is Better than Metal

One of the first considerations of urethane reaction injection molding, also known as RIM, over using metal is the weight of the product once it has been molded, or tooled. Urethane is lightweight and flexible when fabricated to a lower durometer rating. The less expensive production rates make it very appealing, and its corrosion and impact resistance when processed add to its attractiveness. Another benefit of urethane over metal is that it is non-conductive and will not spark when worked with.

The productivity of the material will be improved with urethane’s abrasion resistance, its ability to withstand rubbing, scraping or erosion. This positive trait helps maintain the product’s original appearance and structure. Overall, its resilience and easily moldable properties can make urethane an excellent material for RIM.

Urethane has Superior Qualities to Rubber

Some of the same advantages of urethane over metals, such as excellent abrasion resistance and the many different molding capacities are the same with natural rubber. Added benefits are the high cut and tear resistance, a broader hardness range and low pressure tooling. Urethane offers oil resistance, ozone resistance and radiation resistance – making a sturdy RIM product. It can be processed into very thin items and have much thicker sections without a curing gradient.

And lastly, but not least, is the superior load bearing capacity, which is basically the properties of the urethane reaction injection molding developed part to maintain its reliability without failure.

Overall, urethane is a tough material. Not only does it have the advantages over metal and rubber, it features high tensile strength, the maximum force a material can withstand without tearing, as well as excellent elongation and dimensional stability. One the one hand, it is flexible at extremely low temperatures, yet on the other hand it has high heat resistance. It is quite resistant to environmental factors as well as bacteria, acids, chemicals and solvents. As you can see, the advantages of using urethane reaction injection molding outweigh the use of natural materials.

Post time: 04-06-2017