Custom Porous Plastic — Rollers, Sheets and Moulded Parts
What is Yamahachi Porous?
Yamahachi Porous is an open-cell porous plastic developed in-house, with a polyethylene base. It is flexible, permeable and hydrophobic, generates very little dust and uses no fibres, so it does not fray or shed. It absorbs liquids such as oil and ink, which makes it effective for applying, holding and absorbing liquids. We supply it as rollers, sheets and injection-moulded parts, made to your physical properties and application.
Available forms
| Form | Dimensions |
| Roller | Outer diameter 6 – 50 mm × inner diameter 2.5 mm and up |
| Sheet | Thickness 1.6 – 4.0 mm |
| Injection-moulded parts | Small sizes and complex shapes, including gear shapes |
Beyond general shapes such as sheets, rolls and tips, our know-how covers mould design, raw material blending and moulding, so we can also produce porous parts by injection moulding.
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Basic properties
| Material | Mainly polyethylene (PE). Polypropylene (PP) is available for some items. |
| Pore structure | Fine continuous pores in a three-dimensional network |
| Flexibility | Flexible and does not damage the surface or workpiece |
| Permeability | Penetrate into oil and ink |
| Ventilation | Passes air or gas |
| Hydrophobic | This product has weak interaction with water and does not absorb water or moisture |
| Durability | Polyethylene-based material , highly durable |
| Lint-free | No fiber material used. Low dust generation material that does not cause the base material to fall off. |
| Chemical resistance | Highly resistant to acids and alkalis, and relatively resistant to oils and organic solvents. |
How a custom project runs
A custom shape goes through three stages: a prototype, then production tooling, then mass production. We agree each stage with you before moving to the next one.
| Minimum quantity | The minimum depends on the shape, so we cannot give a single figure. This process does not suit a one-off piece or a very small quantity. Please tell us the volume you expect per year. |
| Fields we serve | General industrial and consumer products. |
| Fields we do not serve | Medical devices, and any application that requires regulatory approval or certification. |
| What to send us | The application, the liquid you use, the shape or drawing, and the yearly volume. With these we can answer in one reply. |
Options
| Material: HDPE | Adjustment of hardness | Adjustment of porosity | Hydrophilization |
| Special shape (gear) | Double-layer | Surface processing (partly) | Surface processing (entirely) |
Length, pore size, porosity, hardness and heat resistance are designed for each application. Tell us your requirements and we will propose a specification through prototypes and sample evaluation.
Kinds of porous structure
We design the porous structure according to the customer’s physical properties and applications.
| Kind | Overview |
| Standard structure | Continuous porous structure connected in a three-dimensional network. The walls between the pores are open, providing vent and liquid permeability. |
| Double-layer | Double layers of porous material with different pore sizes formed into a roller shape. The inner layer has a high porosity, and the surface layer has fine and dense pores. |
| Surface processing (partly) | Partially processed porous surface in roll shape. Air/gass and liquid do not pass through the processed parts, but the unprocessed parts maintain their porous function with vent and peamiability. Detailed designs such as dot patterns can be processed on the surface, and functions such as applying a small amount of oil can also be added. |
| Surface processing (entirely) | The entire surface is processed to seal the entire pores on the surface. The inner layer retains its porous function with features of vent and peamiability, and the processed surface layer does not allow ventilation or liquid to pass through. |
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| Standard structure | Double-layer | Surface processing (partly) | Surface processing (entirely) |
Applications
| Lubricant coating porous material | Oil and ink application parts | Absorbent material | Rust-proof functional porous parts | Marking materials |
Related pages
What is open-cell porous foam?
Custom porous plastic tips and nibs
| Need any help? Please contact us. |
If you have any questions or would like to receive more detailed information or samples, please complete “contact form” and a company representative will contact you.
