Polyurethane Foam

Polyurethane Foam
Polyester Foam Fabrication
Polyurethane Foam
Polyether Foam Fabrications

Polyurethane Foam Fabrication

Here at Advanced Seals & Gaskets Ltd, we have the capabilities to manufacture various fabricated components produced from a range of polyurethane foam materials. Foam fabrications often require a combination of specialist machinery including saws, drills, buffers and knives, alongside the manual adhesion and construction of the finished product. By choosing ASG for your fabrications, you will benefit from the availability of our CNC oscillating knife, which can automatically cut and drill fabricated parts by reading CAD drawings. Fabrications are often used as a cheaper alternative to mouldings and extrusions for the production of bespoke shapes (as there is no initial die or tooling cost), ideal for when 1 off prototypes or small quantity runs are needed. All our sponge rubber fabrications are made to order, produced using samples or drawings provided by customers, and can take many forms for example multiple material laminating to create composites sheets which are then cut down into gaskets/washers/strip, displays & signage (such as logos/lettering) and seals with flexible joints or irregular angles.

 

What is a Polyurethane Foam fabrication?

Fabrication is the process by which polyurethane foam blocks or sheets of material are turned into custom made 3D usable shapes. Foam fabrications can be created using a selection of CNC machines, saws, drills and buffers etc, enabling us to create unique products that usually can not be produced by one single process for example where the item is too big to be produced in one single piece, or where 3D profiles are required such as cubes or cone shapes. Polyurethane foam fabrications can be cut from blocks kept in stock, cut from laminated layers of sheet material and even made using a number of smaller cut parts joined together.

 

Why use Polyurethane Foam fabrications?

Fabrications are often used as a cheaper alternative to extrusions (as there is no initial die/tooling cost) for the production of bespoke shapes, these are ideal for use as samples or prototypes prior to paying for expensive tooling for mouldings or extrusions for bulk production. They are also perfect for producing props, signs, displays, packaging case/box inserts with routered out shapes to hold specific items in place.  Different types of sponge rubber fabrications have their own unique set of characteristics and properties for use in various applications, some are suitable for outdoor use and UV/Ozone exposure, others have oil resistance or are flame retardant. Polyethylene foam fabricated parts can be found used in many applications and industries such as electrical equipment,  automotive, advertising and packaging.

 

Different Grades

There are different types of polyurethane foam available for use within many industries each with its own unique characteristics. Popular types of fabricated polyurethane foam include:

  • Open Cell Expanded Polyester Foam
  • Open Cell Expanded Polyether Foam
  • Open Cell Expanded Reticulated Polyurethane Foam (10PPI – 80PPI)
  • Class O Acoustic Foam
  • Reconstituted Polyurethane Foam

 

Benefits of Polyurethane Foam Fabrications

Fabricated polyurethane foam products offer a range of benefits, not only are they often cheaper to produce than extrusions, but they also enable us to produce a number of variations of the same product for testing and prototypes. Polyurethane foam fabrications are perfect for producing displays, packaging case/box inserts with routered out shapes to hold specific items in place and medical devices such as supports and braces.  Different types of polyurethane foam fabrications have their own unique set of characteristics and properties for use in various applications each with its own levels of resilience, tensile strength, abrasion resistance and chemical resistance. PU foams are generally easy to ignite but can be manufactured with the addition of flame retardant additives.