Factors affect elasticity of TPU tape

As we announced lots of times, TPU is a kind of plastic material that owns elasticity originally. So TPU tape becomes a popular kind of garment accessory because of its stretch and eco-friendly performance. However, garment manufacturers may find out a question: why different TPU tape owns different elastic force? There are two main factors affect elasticity.

1. Raw material

When comes to raw material, there are still two factors will influence the elasticity of TPU tape. The first one is hardness of material. Almost all of plastic materials are separated into those in several hardness. The hardness of TPU ranges from Shore 60A to 70D. Generally, manufacturers choose that in hardness of Shore 70A, 80A or 85A to produce TPU elastic tape. TPU material that is softer makes TPU tape have better elasticity. At the same time, the harder the material is, the less elasticity TPU tape has.

Another factor refers to the type of TPU material. Different types of TPU material may choose different formulas or recipes, which will influence the performance of TPU. The fact is that the final TPU tape will own different elasticity though the raw materials are in the same hardness.

2. Process technology

TPU raw material should be reprocessed before being produced into TPU tape. For example, recipes mixture and drying are both the necessary process. Actually, just as its full name Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomer shows, TPU processing depends on high temperature. The high temperature can help TPU material show its best performance. Otherwise, TPU tape will be in less elasticity and even be easy to break. Of course, too high of temperature does no good to TPU. Usually, the processing temperature of TPU ranges from 170 to 230 degrees. Therefore, technique staff should control the processing temperature according to the raw materials in different types or hardness.

In conclusion, the type of material, the hardness of raw material and the process technology will affect the elasticity of TPU tape. By the way, if the TPU tape manufacturer choose reclaimed TPU material for production, the elasticity may unstable because of the unstable performance. Here we have an article describing the shortage of reclaimed TPU material.