Peace and quiet with new TPEs

Rigid plastics aren?t exactly a designer?s first choice when it comes to managing noise and vibration. Elastomers, however, are inherently good at reducing both factors. GLS (McHenry, IL) has taken them a giant step further in developing a new line of specialty vibration- and sound-damping TPE alloys, which will be introduced at K 2007. Target markets for these materials include hardware tools, footwear, electronics, building materials, personal protection, and acoustic control applications.

According to GLS, these products are the first of their kind in providing true material damping by utilizing unique chemistries for sound deadening across a wide frequency range (10-20,000 Hz). Along with damping, the alloys provide wide hardness (20-80 Shore A) and specific gravity (0.9-1.3) ranges. ?This relaxes some of the limitations imposed by currently used materials, offering designers more freedom to design,? says Walt Ripple, sales and marketing director. ?GLS customers can specify grades for overmolding onto a variety of substrates and choose from a range of hardnesses and custom colors. These materials also offer excellent UV protection and can meet UL specifications.??MM

GLS Corp.
www.glscorporation.com