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Innovations From Polyurethane Manufacturers
The Polyurethane History of Snowboard Design
Frequent readers of this blog know that polyurethane is an integral part of helping surfers carve up waves. But, did you know that polyurethane is also pivotal in helping riders carve up mountains as well? Over the course of the past few decades, snowboarding has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. The winter pastime that allows athletes to ride down mountains like the face of a wave owes its meteoric rise thanks at least in part to polyurethane.
The Snurfer
The history of snowboarding dates back to about 1965 when an enterprising ski enthusiast and engineer named...
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.
World’s Longest Polyurethane Wind TurbineIn spring,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
Polyurethane Wheels Take Elevator Innovation Ever Skyward
As engineers build buildings ever skyward, issues of practicality, come into play. For example, take elevators.
The elevator banks in giant buildings structures are as much of a modern marvel as the skyscrapers they service. Elevators in these buildings and their components must be both well-thought-out and durable. Maybe that is why so many employ the use of polyurethane wheels in their design.
Polyurethane elevator wheels, with their excellent loadbearing properties and shock absorbing qualities, are an ideal choice to stand up to the taxing demands of busy elevator systems.
Taller Buildings Stretch Elevator Demand
Polyurethane elevator wheels are an...
Curtesy of Carbon®
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...
Polyurethane Helps Make It a Spooktacular Halloween
In the race to have the spookiest house on the block, homeowners are deploying polyurethane-based decorations in their front yards. From jack-o-lanterns to witches to monsters of all kinds, polyurethane is showing up in all manner of Halloween home décor.
Decoration Spending Is Up
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent more than $9 billion in 2018 on Halloween. Of that amount, decorations was one of the largest spending categories, outpacing even candy sales.
This may be because in the spirit of one-upmanship, homeowners are turning to ever more elaborate decorations. Buyers in the market want home décor that...