Polyurethane Abrasion Resistance

Abrasion resistant polyurethane is a performance attribute of polyurethanes that has resulted in its use in many applications that experience high wear.  Examples range from high pressure seals to liners used in slurry applications.

Sliding abrasion occurs when one surface slides over another (two body) or two surfaces separated by dry particles or slurry (three body) slide past each other. In either case, small tears are created in the surfaces of the materials. Polyurethanes, with high tear strength and low coefficient of friction, reduces the wear created by these forces.

Impingement and slurry abrasion occur when abrasive materials impact a surface. Depending on the velocity and angle of impact, small pieces of the surface are torn off.  Polyurethanes with high resilience are selected in these application since they will absorb the impact energy and then recover with little or no damage to the surface of the material.