Vulkollan® wheels: wear-resistant under high static loads

Vulkollan®, a trademark of COVESTRO AG, is a brand name for highly specific polyurethane. The material is manufactured with Desmodur 15 and according to a special formula. Vulkollan wheels therefore consist of the most powerful elastomer. The material has excellent properties for intensive use. But what makes this material so well suited to wheels?

The power of Vulkollan®

Vulkollan® contains a unique elastomeric compound. This makes the material many times stronger than other materials in the fields of:

• High static load, without permanent deformation: if vehicles or machines stand still for a long time, the treads of the wheels collapse. During use, Vulkollan® always regains its round shape through rotation and heating.
• Exceptionally good wear resistance: Save on future maintenance, wheel replacement or unwanted downtime due to the long service life of Vulkollan®.
• Optimal dynamic load-carrying capacity: The material has good resistance to shocks or peak loads, as is often the case with heavy drives or high speeds.

Due to these properties, the material does not tear further even when notched when it is under tension. This ensures that Vulkollan® can be stretched up to seven times without tearing.

Vulkollan®: extremely resistant to tearing and wear

As mentioned before, Vulkollan® is highly resistant to abrasion. The tear resistance does of course decrease with notching, but it still has unprecedented strength. A tear resistance of this level has not yet been found anywhere else in non-reinforced elastomer. Vulkollan® remains functional even when the upholstery is damaged.

Vulkollan® can withstand high temperatures

Rubber wears out much faster than Vulkollan®. Soft Vulkollan® wears less quickly than other materials. The reason for this is that soft Vulkollan® can move with it when used on, for example, irregular terrain. Natural rubber is not capable of this. Vulkollan® also proves its strength at high and low temperatures. At too high or too low temperatures, many other materials lose their strength. Vulkollan® has a much greater tolerance of temperature. Where other materials crack and wear, Vulkollan® functions at high temperatures up to 80˚ degrees and low temperatures up to -40 degrees.

Prevent deformed tyres

With wheels and tyres you always have to deal with environmental influences. The natural colour of Vulkollan® is yellow/brown. UV light can make the material much darker. This has no effect on the quality. Wheels made of other materials can deform when standing still for a long time. The underside of the tyre may become flat. One term for this is the ‘Monday morning sole’. Fortunately, wheels with Vulkollan® do not suffer from this. The material has a much smaller permanent deformation.

The high tensile strength of Vulkollan®

The tensile strength is much higher with Vulkollan®. This has to do with two important properties of the material:

• Greater elongation
• Greater stiffness

These features allow a standard 90˚ Shore A to be pulled out almost seven times. With rubbers you often have to deal with a small extension and a high stiffness. With plastic and metal you speak of a very small extension. Vulkollan® is therefore a unique composition with a much higher tensile strength than these materials.

Hydrolysis: attack by water

Hydrolysis is the splitting of a chemical compound with the absorption of water. This ensures that polyurethane can be damaged when it comes into contact with water. To prevent hydrolysis with Vulkollan®, STABAXOL has been added to the material. This ensures that the decomposition process is slowed down under the influence of water.

Using Vulkollan® as a conductor or insulator

Materials can be divided into insulators and conductors. Vulkollan® is an insulator. In some cases it is desirable to use proper conductive tapes. That is why extensive research has been done into a way to also develop a variant of the Vulkollan® belt that does conduct, the Vulkollan C. This material has the same properties as the original version, but has a much lower electrical resistance. Vulkollan C is black in colour, which is common in the wheel industry for antistatic electrical resistance between 10^5 and 10^7 Ohms.

Questions or personal advice

There are many reasons to use Vulkollan® wheels from Konijnenburg. These strong wheels are going to improve your driving experience many times over and it is a real powerhouse under wheels. Do you want to know more about Vulkollan®? Do you have questions about other materials or wheels? Contact us and we will answer all your questions. We also help you find wheels that meet your needs.