The most popular option in the material handling sector are rubber and polyurethane castors. They're commonly utilised interchangeably, irrespective of their distinct capabilities and so are prevalent on close to 80% of industrial applications.
But, what’s the difference between rubber and polyurethane castors and which must you consider using?
Load capability/maximum weight
Potentially one among the most important criteria of caster selection is determining the most load. Polyurethane castors can generally carry heavier weights than rubber casters as a result of the hardness of the material. Also, polyurethane castors can have pretty skinny threads in comparison to rubber casters, which boosts their load capacity. Polyurethane castors also are much more immune to splitting and tearing.
Floor Protection & Marking
Common Rubber Castors are manufactured employing Carbon Black Filler. Unfortunately, this Carbon Black will mark floors, significantly wooden & tiled flooring and it is as a result not well suited for applications exactly where ground marking properties are essential.
Polyurethane Conversely doesn't normally mark flooring.
Even though Polyurethane is usually combined by using a colourant, the chemical make-up of the material locks the colour into the material and cannot leach or mark flooring surfaces.
Roll Resistance
Roll resistance is an important element for simplicity of use. The lower the roll resistance, the simpler it can be to maneuver the tools. This improves operator ease and comfort and effectiveness. On the subject of decreasing roll resistance, two factors make any difference – click here consistency and hardness of the material.
Polyurethane castors tend to be more uniform in nature than all-natural rubber on account of their artificial composition. The material’s really constant texture provides steady levels of rolling friction, leading to diminished roll resistance.
Toughness
Rubber castors more info present you with a softer experience, but they don’t last as long as polyurethane castors. Rubber castor wheels shed tread with time, whereas polyurethane castor wheels have substantially larger resistance to wear and abrasion. Polyurethane castor wheels can survive approximately 3 times longer than rubber castor wheels under controlled screening. Dependant upon the composition, polyurethane castors also usually outperform rubber castors in terms of oil, grease, and chemical resistance.
As you can see, choosing polyurethane castors is generally the best choice. You can order polyurethane castors from the AUT website.