TPU Industrial Parts Material

TPU material systems for general industrial components such as bumpers, sleeves, stoppers,
wear bushings, protective covers, and sealing/dust-proof parts.
Designed to balance impact toughness, abrasion resistance, and processability across different forming routes
including injection molding, sheet thermoforming, and overmolding/coating (project-dependent).

Typical Applications

• Bumpers / buffers / stoppers – repeated impact, vibration, and surface wear.
• Protective sleeves & covers – abrasion, cut risk, and mechanical toughness.
• Wear bushings / liners – friction contact and long-life wear performance.
• Seals / dust-proof parts – flexibility with tear resistance in thin features (project-dependent).
• General protective components – parts requiring stable molding and repeatable dimensions.

Core Requirements (What to Prioritize)

Key Design Concerns (By Failure Mode)

1) Impact Toughness + Wear Resistance (Abrasion, Collision, Vibration)

Many industrial parts experience both contact wear and repeated impact/vibration.
A wear-focused system can become too stiff or notch-sensitive, while an impact-focused system can lose wear life.
The goal is a stable compromise: wear life without brittle crack behavior.

• Wear zone: verify abrasion and friction under real load and contact material.
• Impact zone: evaluate repeated impacts and vibration cycles, not only single-hit tests.
• Surface integrity: watch for chipping, edge damage, and micro-cracking under mixed loads.

2) Tear / Notch Growth & Structure Sensitivity

TPU parts often fail at thin-wall sections, snap-fit hooks, holes, and sharp corners.
Even a small notch can grow into a tear under cyclic stress. This is why geometry and processing matter as much as the resin.

• Thin walls: require higher toughness margin and stable molding to avoid weak zones.
• Sharp features: reduce stress concentration where possible; validate real parts, not only standard bars.
• Weld lines: can become tear initiation points in injection molded parts (project-dependent).

3) Dimensional Stability & Heat Aging (Drift Control)

Long-term working temperature can drive property drift and shrink/warpage, especially when the part has
strict assembly dimensions. A stable system manages heat aging resistance and shrink behavior while keeping toughness.

• Heat history matters: overheating during processing can reduce long-term stability.
• Validation: check dimensions and mechanical properties after aging cycles relevant to your service condition.
• Assembly tolerance: define drift limits early (dimensions and hardness/elastic recovery).

4) Oil / Chemical Exposure Boundary (Project-Dependent)

“Oil resistance” is not a single pass/fail label. Swelling and softening depend on media type, temperature,
and exposure time. Define the boundary early: what media, what temperature, and how long.

5) Forming Route Compatibility (Injection, Thermoforming, Overmolding)

Forming route changes material requirements. Injection molding prioritizes flow and weld-line integrity.
Thermoforming prioritizes sheet stability and predictable shrink. Overmolding/coating requires bonding compatibility and controlled heat history.

• Injection molding: select for stable molding window, demolding, shrink control, and notch toughness.
• Sheet thermoforming: select for sheet stability, thickness control, and shrink repeatability.
• Overmolding/coating: select for bonding compatibility and heat history management (project-dependent).

Typical Grade Families & Positioning

Note: Final selection depends on the dominant failure mode, part geometry (thin walls, sharp corners, snap-fits),
working temperature, media exposure, and forming route (injection/thermoforming/overmolding).

Processing Recommendations (Practical)

• Geometry first: for snap-fits and thin areas, prioritize tear/notch control over “hardness only” selection.
• Aging validation: define working temperature and duration, then test both size drift and mechanical retention.
• Media boundary: if oils/chemicals are uncertain, avoid locking a grade without verification plan.

Request Samples / TDS

If your project involves multi-constraint trade-offs (impact + wear + heat aging + oil exposure + thin-wall notch sensitivity),
route it to Advanced Functional Industrial TPU for combined selection logic and a verification plan.