Urethane flume wheels are featured on many roller coasters around the world that are supplied from Plan Tech. We utilize a high-performance polyurethane material from world leading chemical companies. Most urethane flume wheels consist of an aluminum core that is machined in our state of the art machine shop.
After each of the urethane flume wheels cores are rigorously inspected they will enter our clean room for media blasting where a coat of bonding adhesive will be applied to the mating surface. Being able to cast directly to the wheel creates a bond strength greater than the tear strength of the urethane material!
Most urethane flume wheels are supplied in a 70A which is ideal to absorb vibrations while still being firm enough to withstand thousands of pounds from the ride. Slightly harder than a car tire 70A machine cannot easily be machined. After 3 decades of experience, Plan Tech has built several machines for such this task of grinding urethane flume wheels. We can hold a tight tolerance of +/-.005 on all of our machined parts for a smooth ride. Also, any machined UHMW bushing is no problem for Plan Tech. Each wheel will be supplied with new bearings and inspection reports upon request. Plan Tech can also strip off any previously coated urethane flume wheels and reprocess good “cores” for an inexpensive replacement OEM urethane flume wheels.
Machining cast urethane parts require specialized equipment and training. Here at Plan Tech we utilize 3D CAD Design Software Solidworks and make all of our own molds in-house for speed, accuracy and precision. We control the entire process from design to manufacture. Custom mold making is at the very core of what we do. Our machine shop includes CNC Lathes, Mills and Grinders for machining cast urethane flume wheels. We also have manual mills as well as a sheet metal and welding area. In addition, we have a Flow Water jet with 48×96 inch sheet capabilities and can cut a list of materials like Polyurethane, Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Carbon fiber, and most plastics.
Please Contact us for further details regarding cast flume wheels!