Industrial Polyurethane Products
Brain Industries supplies a range of products with the option of polyurethane coatings to protect and extend the life of equipment. Our genius engineers also custom design polyurethane products to solve our customers’ business issues.
Clients from a range of industries – from mining to agriculture, oil & gas, marine & shipping, transport tunnelling to waste management – are benefitting from using our existing and customised Brain Polyurethane products.
- Pulley lagging - rubber backed polyurethane lagging and hot cast polyurethane pulley lagging
- Conveyor idlers
- Pulleys
- Paddle wheels
- Belt cleaners and belt scapers (primary, secondary and tertiary)
- Torque arms
- Flexible joints
- Safety barriers
- Wear parts
- AND MORE.
We can vary the polyurethane in terms of its hardness, elongation, tensile, and abrasion resistance. We manufacture most polyurethane moulds in-house to guarantee quality.
Benefits of Polyurethane
Long lasting to extend the life of existing products – Polyurethane typically exceeds the life of the product it’s being used in. It outlasts rubber by a factor of 10 in wear applications.
Fire safety – Depending on the choice of starting materials, short-term heat resistance up to 250°C can be achieved.
Flexible – Polyurethane moulds endlessly, with no joining or splicing
Operational benefits – Polyurethane is efficient, cost effective and sustainable. It prevents wearing of existing infrastructure. In uses on some products, such as pulleys and conveyors, it reduces downtime and OHS risks because change outs do not need to occur as often.
Why use Brain Polyurethane pulley lagging?
Traditionally, lagging is a rubber strip that coats a conveyor pulley. It is designed to effectively disperse water and dirt, the same way a tyre does.
Polyurethane outlasts rubber by a factor of between five and 10. It provides superior impact, cut and abrasive resistance compared to rubber.
But it can’t be put directly on a pulley in situ as there is no glue that can bond it to the steel shell. One option bonds polyurethane lagging to rubber which can then be bonded to the pulley in the field. The other option is to hot cast the polyurethane on to the shell in the factory.
Brain works with Lord Chemicals to perfect the bonding process. Our bond strengths are well above expected standard.
We supply the products in any colour (to match corporate colours) and have a logo embossed into it. They can be in thicknesses starting from 10mm to your required length.
Polyurethane is low friction and belt friendly meaning it better resists build up and it is also effective in dirt and water shedding. Polyurethane also makes for a quieter pulley operation. Hot cast lagging is particularly suited to new and OEM non-drive pulley applications.
All of these features mean reduced operating costs including reduced ongoing maintenance costs in addition to increased working life over rubber lagging. Reduced maintenance requirements also reduces risk to workers from inspection and maintenance duties.
With rubber lagging this process is required annually. Polyurethane means this activity is only done once every five years. To re-lag a pulley, one must stop the conveyor and remove the pulley, also stopping production. This exercise can be quite onerous and high risk, with pulleys sometimes 40 metres in the air. The stoppage requires deployment of cranes, scaffolding, elevated platforms, tag-out procedures, risk assessment and a myriad contract operating staff who may not usually work on site.
Customised Brain Polyurethane solutions to your business problems
And they said it couldn’t be done!
One example of our customised solutions is the project we did for a wire rope manufacturer. We have put a 6mm Brain polyurethane coating on the belt of their 4 groove rubber V pulley.
Polyurathene products guarantee quality
Brain Industries use the latest, state of the art manufacturing equipment and sources premium polyurethane from the largest supplier of high performance prepolymers in Australia and Asia.
Our two large polyurethane ovens mean we can offer quick turnaround on projects. The ovens measure 4 by 3 by 2.5m so no job too big (or too small). They heat up to 160 degrees Celsius.
Importantly we have our own degassing equipment on site which ensures the product is not porous.
Our Australian owned and operated supplier, ERA Polymers, has more than 25 years’ experience specialising in the field of polyurethane chemistry. Being owned and operated by industrial chemists, they have built an enviable reputation for outstanding product quality. The company is certified to AS/NZS ISO9001 Quality Management System and accredited for compliance with ISO/IEC 17025 (www.nata.com.au) ensuring tests undertaken are conducted to strict guidelines to make certain of consistency and repeatability.
