Solid particle erosion and viscoelastic properties of thermoplastic polyurethanes

The wear resistance of several thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) having different chemical nature and micron-scale arrangement of the hard and soft segments has been investigated by means of erosion and abrasion tests. The goal was correlating the erosion performances of the materials to their macroscopic mechanical properties. Unlike conventional tests, such as hardness and tensile measurements, viscoelastic analysis proved to be a valuable tool to study the erosion resistance of TPUs. In particular, a strict correlation was found between the erosion rate and the high-frequency (~107 Hz) loss modulus. The latter reflects the actual ability of TPU to dissipate the impact energy of the erodent particles.