Thermoplastic Elastomer OEM Components

OEM products made from TPE's - TPO, TPV, SEBS, TPU.

Properties of Thermoplastic Elastomers

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), sometimes referred to as thermoplastic rubbers, are a class of copolymers or a physical mix of polymers (usually a plastic and a rubber) that consist of materials with both thermoplastic and elastomeric properties.

Even though TPEs are thermoplastic, they exhibit elasticity similar to that of a cross-linked rubber. A key indicator is their softness or hardness value as measured on the Shore durometer scale. Like crosslinked rubber, TPEs are available as very soft rubber-like materials from 20 Shore A up to 90 Shore A, at which point they enter the Shore D scale and can be formulated to give hardness values up to 85 Shore D, which designates a material that is very hard.

Injection Molding for Low to Medium-Volume Parts

Designers increasingly use TPEs due to the significant cost savings possible because their ability to be processed on plastics machinery. Conventional rubber, whether natural or synthetic, is a thermosetting material that must undergo a chemical cross-linking reaction during moulding or extrusion, typically called curing or vulcanization.

The thermoplastic moulding and extrusion processes used for TPEs, on the other hand, avoid the cross-linking step and can achieve very fast cycles times, which can be as little as 20 seconds. Environmental and cost pressures require more and more materials to be recycleable, TPE processing scrap, reject parts or end of life products can be easily reprocessed.

Advantages of TPEs.

Elastomer molding is an ideal process for OEM product components, for a number of reasons:

High production speed — TPE injection molding is able to produce high product volumes at high quality and a manageable cost.
Reduced cycle times.
Material versatility — The suitability of the elastomer molding process for a range of materials and formulations means these processes can meet many different needs
Part quality — Molding produces the high-quality, durable parts required for superior products. Molded parts are up to the task of virtually any application in almost any environment.
Production of hybrid parts by overmolding around metal or plastic parts.
Hardness range modification from Shore A to Shore D and coloration of TPE's.