Uses
TPU has many applications, including automotive instrument panels, caster wheels, power tools, sporting goods, medical devices, drive belts, footwear, inflatable rafts, fire hoses, and a variety of extruded film, sheet and profile uses. TPU is also a popular material found in flexible outer cases of devices like mobile phones and keyboard protectors.
TPU is well known for its applications in wire and cable jacketing, hose and tube, in adhesive and textile coating applications, and as an impact modifier of other polymers. It is also used in high-performance films, such as high impact resistant glass structures.
TPU is the thermoplastic elastomer used in fused filament deposition (FFD) 3D printing. The absence of warping and lack of need for primer makes it an ideal filament for 3D printers when objects need to be flexible and elastic. Since TPU is a thermoplastic, it can be melted by the 3D printer's hotend, printed, then cooled back into an elastic solid. TPU powders are also used for other 3D printing processes, like selective laser sintering (SLS) and 3D inkjet printing. It's also used in large vertical injection or extrusion moulding machines to print directly without the intermediate step of filament extrusion or powder preparation.