HI ALL I was wondering if someone here could help me answer a few questions. First let me give you some background information: I am a casual/dress footwear designer. We would use the materials I am inquiring about for shoe outsoles mostly. These outsole are NOT athletic style outsoles. Here we are mostly looking at platform units, heel units, and one-piece platform and heel units. Some of these materials may be used for insole (the part of the shoe that should be soft for comfort and is covered w lining material and is directly under your foot.) I was instructed to retrieve about as much information about ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PVC (poly vinyl chloride), PU (poly urethane), and PCU (Polycarbonate-urethane). I am supposed to report on my findings in terms of weight, density, tensile strength, and flexibility (Flexural modulus and flexural strength). Price is also important. I have found no information on weight. I also need to know the environmental impact of the production of each of these plastics. I have found varying information for the other properties. I am looking for metric calculations but will be grateful for any sort of information. If it is not possible to obtain concrete numbers for each property, may someone can answer, "Which is strongest?", "Which which will break easiest?", "which weighs the most?", Which will last longest under cold temperatures without cracking?", etc...? Thank You sooooo much! Michelle
Wow, you're a beginner. Just go to a plastics convention like the International Plastics Show in Chicago. This stuff is basic. PU foam is OK, it can be injected into a full size mold, or against an existing part, but it yellows over time. It needs to be painted or covered up. Injection Phylon has better properties, but it uses a scaled down mold, and expands rapidly on de-molding, so it cannot be molded against existing shapes. ABS is a common hard plastic. I don't think PVC is commonly used for shoes. I never heard of PCU. There are numerous other plastics that are used which you didn't mention. TPU is widely used.
