Stevens Urethane Aliphatic TPU Offers High-Clarity Bonding For Glass Laminations

    HOLYOKE, Mass.--May 31, 2001--Aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) from Stevens Urethane provides a clear, strong adhesive interlayer in multi-layer transparent laminations. Aliphatic TPU is optically clear, resists ultraviolet light, and reliably bonds unlike substrates such as glass, polycarbonate, and acrylic. These properties make Stevens Aliphatic TPU ideal for use in architectural, transportation and security glass applications, as well as other applications that require a UV resistant and light stable material, such as security plasma screens for computers and home entertainment.
    Aliphatic Stevens Urethane offers superb optical clarity, with high light transmission rates of up to 94% and low haze levels of less than 1%. Aliphatic TPU is inherently light stable and resists degradation from ultraviolet light, so it will not yellow or craze over time, and it is unaffected by weather variations and the hot and cold temperature extremes that glass is commonly exposed to.
    Many multi-layer glazings incorporate a polycarbonate layer for added strength and security. While other adhesives will bond glass to glass, aliphatic TPU is the preferred material to create a strong bond with both glass, polycarbonate and/or acrylic substrates, absorbing the large thermal and mechanical shocks common to security glass without delaminating.
    Typical applications for Stevens Aliphatic Urethane include windows for armored cars, buses, banks, and embassies; "hurricane glass" that meets new building codes in high-risk geographies; commercial airplane and train windshields; and military cockpit canopies. The adhesive in these laminations is critical to ensure a strong, durable bond, with no delamination once it is in the field. Visibility is also an issue, since the windows have to be optically clear and free of defects.
    Stevens Urethane offers several grades of aliphatic TPU sheet with different melt characteristics, modulus, thicknesses and sheet widths. All Stevens Aliphatic Urethane is manufactured and packaged in Class 10,000 clean zone environments for the highest possible quality optical grade aliphatic sheet with no contamination.
    Stevens Urethane manufactures a full range of high-performance urethanes for use in a wide variety of "can't fail" applications for consumer, medical, commercial, and industrial markets. Stevens Urethane, the only company in the world to offer urethane in blown film, extruded sheet, tubing, cord, and profile form, is a business unit of JPS Elastomerics.

    Phone: (413) 533-8100 or 1-877-TPU-FILM (1-877-878-3456). E-mail: info@stvure.com. www.stevensurethane.com.