Technological advances in properties of soft, flexible foam and elastomeric materials have continued. These thick, soft, flexible foams and elastomers like PORON foam, silicone foam, and more are ideal materials for sealing, gasketing and cushioning across many industries and applications.
They compress, form to irregular surfaces, bend, and flex within an application without damage or delamination, but from the perspective of the converter, these materials may also introduce challenges when trying to achieve the tight dimensional tolerances common in metal and plastic-molded parts.
Maintaining Tight Tolerances when Die Cutting
Die cutting a thick, soft, and complex material (like laminated substrates) can raise issues related to material compression and deflection (Read more about our different die cutting processes here). The challenges can be more dramatic as the thickness and softness of the materials increase. Because of these issues, assigning dimensional tolerances to parts made with such materials can be difficult.
This is just the beginning of a larger discussion about the tolerance challenges that may need to be addressed in your application using thick, soft materials. To learn more about the common challenges converting these materials and how Marian combats these issues, click the banner below download our eBook, "Considerations with Tolerances When Die Cutting Soft, Flexible Materials".
Marian Combats Tolerance Challenges
As a leading converter, Marian takes pride in holding tight dimensional tolerances when necessary on a wide variety of materials.
Marian has over 70 years of experience in die cutting soft, thick materials. Our engineering and quality teams understand and can anticipate challenges that may arise during the die cutting process of these thick, soft foam materials.
With in-house machine building capabilities, we've developed die cutting techniques and tool designs to help minimize or alleviate issues with holding dimensional tolerances.
Contact us for a quote, rapid prototype and engineering design collaboration for your precision die-cut component needs.
If you're interested in learning more about Marian and our wide variety of value-adding die cutting capabilities, contact us and one of our material specialists in your area will reach out to you.
