I have to fabricate a "convex-shaped" strip That must resist to mechanical deformation (the convex will be straightened) many times, possibly, in a wide range of temperatures and That recover the same dimensions without deformation. I have think to polyimide or silicone rubbers.
Can anyone suggest me a suitable grade of the above Mentioned materials, or other materials suitable for this purpose?
Thank you in advance.
Fabio
Dear Fabio,
I think you might need a polymer with shape memory effect. Silicone rubbers have generally low tensile strength, but you could try polyurethane rubbers or maybe PDMS depending on the temperature range.
Good Luck!
Are you looking for a specific stiffness or tensile strength? Sounds like you need a plastic rather than a rubber. Maybe look for impact-modified engineering resins, there are a lot of them out there...
The DuPont HYTREL worked great for high end telephone cords, when we still had land phones!
How much (%) do you like to deform (before yield) the material? You need to know the desired strength of the material. Silicone rubber will degrade over time, it will become stiffer as time progresses. Hytrel won't be a good choice considering the strength. Plus it will deform after ~30% or so. Some polyurethanes can be stretched up to 100% without any deformation, I hope you do not need to stretch this much. If you need to go beyond that, you need softer materials like SEBS (Kraton). Kraton recovers it's shape nicely, however you need to figure out the way of shaping it to a strip. Hope it will help.
Thank you
Rashed
The family of Polyurethanes is a very good choice but you need to know more parameters as you can tailor the chenistry and crosslinking degree of those polymeric systems exactly to your need. Of course you need some knowledge in the field of PU but let's try to contact to representatives selling PU sytems-they for sure will help you or if you have project and money you can establish some cooperation with lab good in PU.
Kind regards
Helena Jnaik
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