Uses & Applications
TPUs are used in a variety of different applications and products. Marketplace applications call for TPUs when desiring plastics that are flexible and resistant to the elements, including products such as wheels, footwear, hosing, piping and tubing, rafts, phone cases, and more.
TPU's ability to be melted and extruded lends itself to the emerging industry of 3D printing. In addition, TPU can be extruded as a filament through a printer head and deposited in fused filament deposition printing or can be used for techniques such as selective laser sintering or 3D inkjet printing.
Benefits of TPU
The benefits of TPU are numerous in a variety of market uses. Because of the customizability and variation associated with swapping out different chemical compounds in the hard block, soft block, and chain extension components of the polyurethane, TPUs can be assembled in a multitude of ways to best suit the needs of the application.
The ability for TPUs to be tailored for their target environment – combined with their tensile strength and flexibility – create the ideal, customizable thermoplastic for low-temperature, aggressive environments and applications.
With their high abrasive and chemical resistance and good tensile strength, polyester-based TPUs are ideal for applications such as automotive parts and industrial machine parts. Polyether-based TPUs are highly flexible at a wide range of temperatures and have high hydrolysis and microbial resistances, making them useful for medical applications.
The large assortment of options for customizability and the ease of working with TPUs make them perfect for numerous applications.