Construction & Building Materials
Glass abrasion, precision handling and continuous cycling defeat standard parts. Custom-engineered polyurethane parts prevail.
— The Recurring Problems
Fiberglass chopping
Glass abrasion and blade impingement wear cots fast, degrading chop quality and causing equipment downtime
Brittle consumables
Hard, brittle pull rollers and guides chip and wear, and can’t be customized to grip sized glass strand
Door & window rollers
Rubber flat-spots and squeaks, and injection-molded plastic debonds from its metal core
Recurring, high-volume duty
Wear life and part-to-part consistency drive cost and down time
— The Differentiator
Where standard parts fall short in construction & building-materials manufacturing
Engineers default to commodity cast-urethane chopper cots, brittle plastic components, and rubber door and window rollers, and each falls short:
- Commodity chopper cots wear rapidly and inconsistently under fiberglass abrasion and blade impingement, driving variable cot life and chop quality, frequent changeouts and downtime
- Brittle plastic pull rollers and guides are hard and brittle, chip and wear, and can't be customized to grip the glass strand
- Rubber door and window rollers flat-spot and squeak; injection-molded plastic rollers debond from their metal cores
- None can be customized to the complex specifications each application needs, and stock suppliers offer no engineering support
- In fiberglass specifically, the recurring frustration is as much service as part: commodity cot suppliers fall short on on-time delivery, consistent quality and communication.
The Result – Recurring high-volume replacement, line downtime for changeouts, inconsistent product quality, scrap of expensive precision components, and the labor of frequent maintenance.
— Solution Spotlights
The custom parts that solve it
Fiberglass Chopping & Winding Consumables
MPC makes the full consumable set for glass-fiber chopping and winding, built to your machine. That covers chopper cots (reinforced splined sleeves, glass-reinforced, or vulcanized to the mandrel or hub), plus cutter heads, wing rings, pull rolls, idlers, and winder and strand guides, all in abrasion-resistant cast polyurethane. Every cot is custom to your machine but built to a consistent quality standard.
Commercial Door & Window Rollers
Overhead-door and window roller assemblies cycle thousands of times a year. MPC manufactures them for long wear life and quiet, non-flat-spotting performance rubber can’t hold. They bond to metal cores so they don’t debond like injected plastic.
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 constructions
Property
Range for this application
Hardness
ASTM D2240
- Shore 20A–70D — solid polyurethane
- Customized per part
Tensile strength
ASTM D412
• 250–7,800 PSI — solid polyurethane
Elongation
ASTM D412
• 160–850% — solid polyurethane
Tear strength, Die C
ASTM D624
• 30–800 PLI — solid polyurethane
Compression set
ASTM D395B
• 5–40% — solid polyurethane
Self-lubricating
Durethane® G
• 70 Shore D
• Tensile strength 5,000 PSI min
• Compression deflection 700 PSI min @ 2% deflection
• Elongation 150%
• Water absorption 1.5% max
• Specific gravity 1.18
Heat, aging, hydrolysis and chemical resistance
Durethane® XL
• Shore 70A–90A
• Tensile strength 3,000–5,000 PSI
• Tear strength, Die C 225–375 PLI
• Elongation 425–575%
• Compression set 17–20%
Chemical exposure
• Thermoset polyurethane resists a wide range of chemicals and oils
• Resistance depends on the specific polyurethane chemistry, operating temperature, aeration and length of exposure
• MPC customizes the material to the chemistry the part actually meets
Abrasion and surface finish
• High abrasion resistance with tolerance to tight surface finishes
Customizable properties
• Hardness, elongation, tensile, tear and compression set are formulated to the part
• Any shape component, or machined to precise specifications
• Cast onto bonded metal cores and hubs; dual-durometer construction available
Relevant technical downloads
Document
What it gives the engineer
Solid polyurethane material specifications: hardness 20A–70D with tensile, elongation, tear and compression set.
The self-lubricating 70D grade for moving parts that cannot carry a lubricant.
Polycarbonate polyurethane material specifications — formulated for heat, aging, hydrolysis and chemical resistance.
General chemical resistance guideline by substance, with the conditions the guideline assumes.
— HOW IT WORKS
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
Case studies & white papers
Case Studies
Robotics OEM Extends Roller Life Under Heavy Loads
A robotics OEM was losing rollers prematurely under heavy, continuous loads. This case study shows how MPC’s heavy-load cast roller stood up to the punishment and extended service life, cutting the premature failures that were driving downtime.
Robotics OEM Overcomes Material Performance Limitations
A robotics OEM needed a molded part that balanced controlled stiffness, predictable wear, and environmental resistance, something no off-the-shelf material could hit. This case study shows how MPC tuned durometer, additives, and chemistry to deliver it and cut the costly redesign cycles along the way.
White Papers
Engineering Urethane Wheels and Rollers for Robotics and Automation
Wheels and rollers are among the hardest-working parts in any automated system. This white paper walks engineers through designing them for load, wear, traction, and reliability in heavy-duty robotics, so they last instead of becoming the weak link.
Engineering Polyurethane Components for Heavy-Duty Applications
Modern automation pushes mechanical parts past what standard materials can handle. This white paper covers the material, process, and design choices behind heavy-duty polyurethane components for robotics and precision systems, so they hold up under continuous operation.
Custom Polyurethane Formulations in Robotics
When off-the-shelf materials can’t hit every requirement at once, robotics engineers turn to custom formulation. This white paper explains how MPC customizes durometer, additives, and chemistry to resolve the competing demands of wear, stiffness, and environmental resistance in robotic systems.
— Design Guide
How to design for this application
How to specify custom polyurethane consumables, trays and rollers for construction and building-materials manufacturing, plus the material comparisons that matter.
— FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What polyurethane chopper cot lasts longer and holds chop quality against fiberglass abrasion than a standard cot?
A custom, abrasion-resistant cast polyurethane cot customized to your chopper. MPC’s cots are formulated for longer, more consistent life against glass abrasion and blade impingement, so chop quality holds and changeouts are less frequent, with consistent part-to-part performance.
Can you supply the full fiberglass consumable set, cots, cutter heads, wing rings, pull rolls, idlers and winder / strand guides, built to our chopper and winder?
Yes. MPC makes the complete machine-specific set: chopper cots, bladed cutter heads, wing rings, locking washers, pull rolls, idlers, and winder and strand guides, in cast polyurethane customized to your equipment, so you source the whole chopping and winding wear set from one manufacturer.
What replaces brittle plastic pull rolls and guides with something tougher that still grips the fiberglass strand?
Tougher, customizable cast polyurethane. It resists the chipping and wear that fail hard, brittle plastic parts, and MPC customizes durometer and profile, including dual-durometer and toothed geometries.
What roller outlasts rubber and injection-molded plastic in commercial door and window assemblies?
Polyurethane rollers. MPC manufactures them for long wear life and quiet, non-flat-spotting performance that rubber can’t provide. They bond to metal cores so they don’t debond like injected plastic.
— Keep Exploring