Written on 29.03.2011 - Technology
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Polyurethane as alternative tubing material

The price of raw materials needed to produce plastic tubing is on the rise. The raw material polyamide 12 has become up to 30 % more expensive. Into the bargain, it is strictly subjected to a quota. The German tubing manufacturer polyvanced GmbH from Osnabrück has responded to this development. On request, the company exchanges polyamide tubing against tubing made of modified polyurethane in many fields.

Tubings based on modified PU are durable, robust and insensitive to buckling/kinking

These hoses are robust, durable and insensitive to buckling/kinking. High flexibility permits very small bending radiuses. “Mainly in the field of pneumatics Elast tubing of modified PU reaches a long and trouble-free service-life. This leads to direct cost savings for the final customer”, polyvanced GmbH Sales Manager Matthias Strehl explained.

At present, the raw material polyamide 12 is expensive and hard to get. “This may probably lead to supply bottlenecks. In this case we'd no longer be able to accommodate high growth rates of existing customers or new inquiries with this material”, Strehl said. Therefore, some machine builders from the automation industry have already switched to polyurethane. “Modified polyurethane is available at any time, and in many fields it's more economic than polyamide 12”, Strehl explained.

Modified polyurethane has very good properties. It is robust, durable, insensitive to buckling and resistant to microbes. Moreover, it features an excellent flexing endurance. “Flexibility and wear resistance characterise PU tubing”, said Strehl.

Polyvanced exchanges polyamide 12 against polyurethane tubing (Elast series) at short notice. This may not be possible only by way of exception, for example in case of air broke tubings in the automotive industry. Various DIN standards specify polyamide as the material to be used.