Adiprene® is a polyurethane elastomer supplied in 60, 80, 90, and 95 Shore hardness; its specific weight is 1.26 kg/dm3.

Its mechanical properties are far greater than conventional elastomers.

Very few other materials offer a combination of hardness and resilience as is typical in this product.

Compounds with a 95 Shore A hardness are elastic enough to resist four times greater elongation than their normal size.

Standard Adiprene® blends can preserve their resilience far better than other rubbers even when they are subjected to temperature variations in a +10 to +110 °C range.

This stability is very important in applications such as shock absorbers and supports.

The load capacity of items made with Adiprene® is far more extensive than conventional elastomers and only slightly smaller than structural plastic materials although Adiprene® boasts the same resilience as an elastomer.

As a technical material, it stands in-between rubbers and plastic materials.

The extraordinary abrasion resistance of Adiprene® is one of the properties why this material is normally used in significant applications where strong wear can be a problem.

In actual service conditions, Adiprene® has performed much better than other rubbers, plastic materials, and even metals, with a ratio up to 100 to 1 in some cases. 

It also has remarkably better impact strength than structural plastic materials; its impact strength at low temperatures is by far superior to polyurethane materials that have different chemical structures. 

Adiprene® has a low, lube-free friction coefficient, which becomes definitely lower as hardness increases. 

This peculiarity combined with stronger abrasion resistance and high load capacity represents a significant reason why this material is used to manufacture bushings and bearings. 

When it is vulcanised, it is hard enough to be machined with standard machine tools. 

Hot temperatures: items in Adiprene® offer excellent performance at moderately high temperatures.

The limit temperature is normally +85 °C on continuous service and +110 °C on intermittent service.

Cold temperatures: Adiprene® preserves its flexibility at very low temperatures and has extraordinary resistance to temperature variations.

Standard blends do not become fragile until temperatures down to -62 °C, although the material becomes gradually stiffer as the temperature drops below -18°C.

Special blends can be produced that are capable of preserving a certain flexibility even at temperatures of -87 °C.

Adiprene® was successfully used at cryogenic temperatures in the handling of non-oxidative liquefied gases.

Adiprene® was used in encapsulation and isolation formulations up to 100 KHz and at temperatures below +110 °C.

The base polymer may be modified with epoxy resins to improve its electrical properties and to enhance its hardness. 

Adiprene® offers excellent resistance to oils and solvents, as a result of which items made with this material are particularly fit for operation with lubricant oils and automotive fuels.

Weather elements do not jeopardise the operating performances of Adiprene® in outdoor applications.

Prolonged exposure to UV rays may make the items manufactured with Adiprene® darker and may slightly reduce their physical properties, but no significant surface deterioration is experienced. 

Oxygen and ozone in atmospheric concentrations do not have a sensitive effect on Adiprene®.

Blends exposed to 300 pphm of ozone in static conditions and under strain for 500 hours, for instance, do not show any sign of cracking or breakage.

Adiprene® is resistant to swelling and to the deteriorating effects resulting from immersion into water.

Standard blends do not foster the growth of fungi and are generally resistant to the attack of microorganisms. Ageing in a warehouse is not a problem for Adiprene® nor is prolonged use in normal operating conditions.

Items made with Adiprene® can offer excellent performances even when hey are exposed to a relatively high amount of gamma radiation, i.e. 1x107 J/kg.

They are also stable under ultra-vacuum conditions.

They do not contain solvents and are characterised by extremely low weight losses when subjected to standard degasification testing.

Products made with Adiprene® offer limited flame resistance.

The decision to use Adiprene® or not in projects where flame resistance requirements play a key role will be made based on the assessment of potential risks, on a case-by-case basis.

Adiprene® items have good resistance to permanent compressive deformation.

This explains why they are used as fixed dies in moulds used for the shaping of sheet metals where tenths of thousand operations are normally performed.