Aragon Elastomers, LLC - Polyurethane

What is polyurethane?

Polyurethane is a flexible plastic, or an elastomer. It can be soft, hard, flexible, gooey, sticky, clear, fluorescent, and can have many other unique characteristics. It used in for many different applications from skateboard wheels to industrial construction.

What are the major reasons for using polyurethane?

Polyurethane can be formulated to possess superior properties in the following categories:

Toughness
Abrasion Resistance
Cut Resistance
Long term stability in outdoor environments (no cracking or hardening over time)
Soft materials that can stretch up to ten or more times their length.
Hard materials that are not brittle--even at temperatures of 40 below zero.
High or low friction formulations
High or low energy absorption formulations (i.e. bouncy or dead)
Custom formulations for many widely diverse applications
Economical prototyping in liquid poured systems to test formulations and design.

How does polyurethane compare in cost to other materials?

Polyurethane costs more per pound than the high volume utility plastic materials such as polyethylene or polypropylene, but it offers far higher properties in many areas. It doesn’t make sense to use polyurethane in instances where it provides no performance advantages over the alternate materials listed above.