look what we did!Innovations From Polyurethane Manufacturers

Polyurethane Saddles Poised to Take Over Two-Wheeled Travel

Whether you’re a serious, seasoned, long-distance road cyclist or a shorter-traveling, part-time, two-wheeled commuter, you know that time spent in a bicycle saddle can be — well — tough on the tush.

However, thanks to polyurethane and advances in 3D printing, that may soon be changing.

A New Kind of Carbon® Saddle

Carbon, the company using polyurethane 3D printing to create a new kind of football helmet liner, and the winner of the 2019 Polyurethane Innovation Award, is now teaming up with a major cycling manufacturer in the U.S. to create 3D printed polyurethane bicycle saddles.

The Manufacturing Process

The saddle...

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After the Storm, Polyurethane Snowplows Help Cities Dig Out

During this time of year, many parts of the country experience freezing weather. With plunging temperatures often comes snowfall. Whole cities can grind to a halt under accumulated snow as they wait for teams of small but dedicated crews to dig them out. When winter storms happen, every moment counts. Snowplow drivers often work round-the-clock, relying on equipment made from polyurethane to get the job done. 

Polyurethane Is Highly Customizable

Snowplows and blades — a strip of material running along the length of a metal snowplow — have several advantages when made with polyurethane. Polyurethane is highly customizable; parts made...

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Polyurethane Stories That Made Headlines in 2019

Polyurethane Modular Homes

At the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, Astrid Diaz, a Puerto Rico-based architect, announced her plans for a new polyurethane-based modular home. Her designs consist of polyurethane foam walls and a roof, reinforced with a steel frame, then covered with mortar. The homes — which can withstand winds of up to 184 miles per hour — blend in well with the existing architecture of similar structures that populate the island where there was a need for an estimated 75,000 homes in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

In spring,...

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Polyurethane Helps Data Centers Keep It Cool

As computer processing becomes progressively faster — able to handle larger amounts of data — and our world becomes even more connected, we find ourselves increasingly reliant on the complex and highly expensive computer hardware, housed in server rooms, that keeps it all running.  

Providing Ideal Conditions

A dry setting and cool temperature generally provide an ideal operating environment for this equipment. To maintain these optimal conditions, polyurethane often plays an important role. 

Temperature Control

You likely already know that PU is an effective and highly scalable insulator. In the form of open-cell, flexible foam, it can be used to...

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In Hollywood, It’s Lights, Camera, Polyurethane!

In response to a demand from audiences for objects and scenery that look real, today prop houses, set designers and costumers are busier than they have been in years. Polyurethane is helping these creative artisans achieve the kind of authenticity on the big screen that movie-going audiences both desire and demand.

A CGI Backlash

For the past few decades, Hollywood has been experiencing a renaissance driven by computer-generated imagery (CGI). As the years have progressed, the technology has grown more and more advanced. Through CGI, it’s now possible to create huge cityscapes, entire worlds and — of course — all...

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Why You Should Consider a Polyurethane Tree This Year

If you’re on the hunt for the perfect low-maintenance Christmas tree this year, you may find yourself choosing from among several made with polyurethane.

Polyurethane is often a key component used in the manufacturing of artificial trees. It stands up to the rigors of the artificial tree production process, and PU’s versatility lends itself to use in almost every part of these faux wintertime spruces — from their hearty bases to the tiniest needles on the most delicate of boughs.

PU from Top to Bottom

The sturdy and lightweight properties of polyurethane make it a smart choice for the trunks...

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3D-Printed Polyurethane Webbing Helps Robots Develop a Gentler Touch

Could a new form of flexible polyurethane lace provide robots with a sense of touch? Researchers at Cornell University think they may have come up with the next big breakthrough in robotic sensory perception with a kind of webbing they refer to as “optical lace.”

How It’s Made

To create this new form of flexible lace, first engineers must 3D-print a lattice-type structure using polyurethane technology. Next, once the webbing is printed, it is then threaded with more than a dozen sensors along with LED lights to illuminate it. Finally, the entire structure is fitted snugly onto the robot.

The...

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Polyurethane Can Help You Achieve a Picture-Perfect Smile

On a quest to achieve the smile of their dreams, more people are using teeth aligners made from polyurethane.

So Many Aligner Options

From dental devices that you order online to the variety of options at your dentist’s office, more and more of these new methods for aligning one’s teeth are being made available on the market.  

With so many options for straightening their pearly whites, many consumers are turning to devices that use polyurethane as the key material in their design. That is because polyurethane provides strength, toughness and durability, while also providing comfort for the wearer.

2019 Polyurethane Innovation Award Honors Carbon’s New Football Helmet Technology

Polyurethane was first introduced in the 1930s. Since that time, it has gone on to impact and improve daily life for much of the world. Today, the bounds of polyurethane innovation continue to be pushed ever forward, thanks to the men and women working to bring the world the next big polyurethane scientific breakthrough.

The Polyurethane Innovation Award 

Each year, the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) hosts the Polyurethane Innovation Award. The award highlights the role innovation plays in the polyurethane industry, recognizing the companies and individuals whose vision and perseverance help bring new products, technologies and initiatives to...

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