PAC Strapping Catalog

307 National Road, Exton, PA 19341 / www.StrapSolutions.com t oll free 1.800.523.7752 / ph 610.363.8805 / fx 610.363.7349 ©Copyright PAC Strapping Products, Inc. 11 COMPANY A Plastic Strapping Guide Polypropylene Strapping Polypropylene strapping is the most commonly used and least expensive of all strapping materials. It’s light and easy to apply and recycle. Characteristics include high elongation and elongation recovery, but low retained tension. Polypropylene is available in both manual and machine grade and can be sealed with buckles, seals, heat seals, or friction welds. Polypropylene is an excellent choice for light duty palletizing, unitizing, carton closing, and bundling. It is used in all semi automatic strappers and many stand alone arch machines. Polyester Strapping Polyester is the most rigid of all strapping materials. It elongates significantly less than polypropylene and retains tension over a longer period. Polyester is nick resistant and can be sealed with seals, heat, or friction welds. Because polyester offers the greatest strength and highest retained tension of all plastic strapping, it is frequently used on heavy duty loads that need high initial tension along with high retained tension during handling and storage. Common applications are empty cans and bottles, lumber, and heavy, rigid palletizing. In addition, favorable pricing and performance characteristics have driven many steel strapping applications to polyester. Polyester is available in both machine grade and hand grade and is easy to dispose of and recycle. PAC Polyester Cord Strapping Cord Strapping is available in three basic forms: uniline, cross woven and composite. Composite Cord is manufactured with an exterior polymer coating. Uniline cord is manufactured by gluing fibers together with cross woven a cross weave is added between the fibers. Cord is used only in manual applications and is sealed using buckles, seals or tied. Polyester cord offers excellent resistance to moisture and is frequently used in outdoor applications. The heavy duty polyester sizes are now frequently replacing steel in lumber applications. Other common uses are agricultural (bracing of fruit trees) and the boat industry. Steel Steel is the strongest of all strapping materials at the same width and thickness. It is recommended where high strength is necessary, low elongation is important, and where the product is extremely sharp or hot. Steel is sealed using mechanical seals and notch (sealless) type joints. Although the market for steel is declining, there are numerous applications where steel is the preferred alternative. It is most commonly used in steel service centers, rail car applications and heavy construction applications. Steel can be dangerous to work with due to it’s weight, sharp edges and ergonomic concerns, and difficult to recycle. This guide is not intended to be an all inclusive technical reference manual of plastic strapping. It is, however, designed to familiarize distributors and users with the basic characteristics of plastic strapping, the types of strapping available from PAC Strapping Products. Inc., application methods and specification guidelines. PLASTIC STRAPPING GUIDE