S&E Specialty Polymers LLC has developed a thermoplastic elastomer that combines softness with memory and rigidity to meet the demands of a swim dive fin for amputees.
The Lunenburg, Mass., company said the customized TPE has the proper durometer to prevent chafing but rigid enough to allow a strong push in the water and to stand on itself without deforming. Other benefits are neutral buoyancy, heat resistance and availability in a range of colors.
S&E's new elastomer, TufPrene 4005C-80A, is based on SEBS polymer and sports an 80 Shore A durometer. The company developed the compound for newly formed Amp Fins LLC . The fins were publicly tested at the University of Maine's Presque Isle campus after prototype molds for the fins were built by G+G Products LLC of Kennebunk, Maine. Amp Fins claims the new fins, suited to war veterans and to a range of people of different ages, are an improvement on the rocket fins used by the U.S. Navy SEALS.
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