Quality Control Ensure Reliable Products

At RAMPF, product quality and consistency is a top priority. As various products are manufactured, our quality control (QC) team conducts a variety of tests on both simple, uncured materials as well as mixed and cured polymers. Our technicians utilize laboratory equipment that is frequently inspected, calibrated and certified as accurate. The QC results are then recorded and retained as needed should any questions about product performance arise. Our goal: to provide customers with polyurethanes that exhibit outstanding batch-to-batch consistency and meet the specifications as stated on technical data sheets.

Physical Properties

We begin our QC process by drawing samples of the initial product mixture and testing such properties as:

• Gel time — time to solidification
• Viscosity — material liquidity
• Specific Gravity or Density — used to calculate how much material will be required to fill a mold.

Additional tests are conducted based on the material being manufactured. For example, the percentage of NCO in a prepolymer is verified to ensure that the product will cure and perform as expected when the customer molds a part.

Cured Characteristics

Quality tests on cured product samples include hardness and shrinkage; both properties are critical considerations in selecting polyurethanes for a specific project. NOTE: The laboratory measurement of shrinkage must be supplemented by the customer before beginning a new casting project because shrink can be affected by release agents, mold configuration, casting thickness, and ambient temperature.

A number of other performance properties are verified according to the class of product to ensure that the expected in-service capabilities will be achieved.

• Elastomers: Mechanical properties such as tensile strength/elongation, tear strength and flexural modulus are measured
• Clear Polyurethanes: Must be visually examined for clarity
• High Performance Systems: Advanced testing includes Notched Izod impact strength and heat deflection temperature

Customer-specific quality tests may also be conducted, such as the compression strength of polyurethane foams.

For more information about testing procedures, please contact rgi-officestj@rampf-group.com.