Airport and Baggage Handling Systems
24/7 throughput and an abrasive baggage stream wear out standard components. Custom-engineered urethane wheels keep rolling.
— The Recurring Problems
Continuous-duty wear
24/7 wheels and rollers under heavy loads flat-spot and lose traction
Abrasive bag stream
Tags, straps, dust and grease wear component surfaces far faster
Start-stop sortation
Diverters and carrier wheels flat-spot when parked and chew the traction surface
Hub debonding
Injection-molded TPU debonds from its hub under sustained load
Noise-sensitive terminals
Hard or worn components add rattle and noise to concourses
Mission-critical security systems
Drive wheels and rollers must remain stable, quiet for optimum performance
— The Differentiator
Where standard components fall short in a terminal
Engineers default to standard rubber or injection-molded TPU wheels and rollers — and under continuous airport duty each falls short somewhere:
- Rubber and injection-molded TPU wear and flat-spot under continuous duty — a loaded wheel left stopped takes a flat, and out-of-round wheels add vibration, noise and traction loss
- Injection-molded TPU can debond from its hub under sustained load — a recurring failure that can cause system downtime
- The abrasive baggage stream (tags, straps, dust, oil / grease) wears rubber and TPU surfaces and degrades system performance
- In mission-critical security CT scanning systems, rubber sheds particles in the screening tunnel and standard TPU loses dimensional stability at high continuous rotation, causing drift and noise in a precision instrument
- None can be customized to the combination of durometer, wear life and traction the application needs, and stock suppliers offer no engineering support
The Result – Frequent wheel and roller replacement, unplanned BHS downtime that strands bags and flights and costs extra maintenance labor.
— Solution Spotlights
The custom parts that solve it
Conveyor, Carrier & Sortation
MPC manufactures conveyor, carrier and sortation wheels using proprietary Durethane® materials on a bonded metal hub, so they carry heavy, impact-loaded bags longer than injection-molded TPU, don’t flat-spot when parked or debond at the hub, and stay non-marking. For mission-critical security CT scanners, MPC’s custom components run quiet and shed no particles into the tunnel.
Conveyor Rollers
MPC manufactures abrasion-resistant polyurethane conveyor rollers customized to the baggage stream to maximize system uptime and improve performance.
Talk it through with a polyurethane expert who’ll tell you what’s achievable and what is not.
— Technical Specifications
The specs that matter for continuous baggage duty
Property
Range for this application
Hardness
ASTM D2240
- Shore 70A–95A for traction- and noise-critical conveyor, carrier and sortation wheels
- Shore 50D–70D for high-load wheels, drive elements and rollers where deflection must stay low
- Full formulating range Shore 20A–70D
Tensile strength
ASTM D412 / D3574A
5,000–7,800 PSI
Tear strength, Die C
ASTM D624
250–800 PLI
Elongation
ASTM D412
220–800%
Compression set
ASTM D395B
- 30–40%
- 17–20% in heat- and hydrolysis-resistant polycarbonate-based formulations at 70A–90A
Hub bond
Urethane cast directly onto a metal hub — the bond is stronger than the urethane itself, eliminating hub-debond failure mode
Abrasion and surface finish
High abrasion resistance with tolerance to tight surface finishes
— HOW TO WORK WITH US
From concept to scaled production
Connect With Us
Share your application, performance needs, or a part you want to improve.
Collaborate on Design
Our engineers will help optimize materials and geometry for manufacturability.
Prototype & Refine
We produce samples using our proprietary polyurethane formulations for testing.
Move to Production
Once approved, we move to scalable molding with full quality assurance.
That’s exactly the conversation we like to have – get a polyurethane expert on a quick call to pressure-test your idea before you commit.
— Proof
White papers
White Papers
Engineering Polyurethane Components for High-Duty Applications
Modern automation pushes mechanical parts past what standard materials can handle. This white paper covers the material, process, and design choices behind high-duty polyurethane components for robotics and precision systems, so they hold up under continuous duty.
— Design Guide
How to specify custom urethane wheels and rollers for continuous-duty terminals and screening
— FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What wheel / roller material stops flat-spotting and wear on continuous-duty airport baggage conveyors and sorters?
Custom cast polyurethane — Durethane®. It resists flat-spotting when a loaded wheel sits stopped and outlasts rubber or plastics in continuous 24/7 conveyance, and MPC customizes material properties to perform at the loads the line sees.
How do I get longer wheel life against the abrasive baggage stream — luggage tags, straps, dust, oil and grease?
Use abrasion-resistant cast polyurethane tuned to the baggage stream. MPC formulates the wheel or roller surface to resist the tags, straps, dust and oil / grease that wear rubber and plastic and degrade grip, so the traction surface lasts longer in baggageconveying applications.
What's quieter and longer-lasting than rubber or injection-molded TPU for baggage handling wheels and sortation diverters?
Custom cast polyurethane. It runs quieter than hard or worn wheels in occupied concourses and outlasts rubber and plastic under start-stop sortation duty, holding its shape and traction where those materials flat-spot and wear.
Can wheels be bonded to metal hubs so they don't debond under sustained baggage load?
Yes. MPC casts the urethane directly onto a metal hub so it chemically bonds during cure — a bond stronger than the urethane itself — which eliminates the hub-debonding failure mode of injection-molded TPU, and other materials, under sustained load.
For airport security systems, what wheel and roller material stays dimensionally stable, quiet and low-particle at high continuous rotation?
Custom formulated polyurethane. It can be formulated to run quietly with high abrasion resistance and holds its dimensions at high continuous rotation, where rubber sheds particles and standard materials drift.
— Keep Exploring