In many applications of polyurethane elastomers, good resistance to abrasion and a low coefficient of friction are essential characteristics. Lowest coefficients of friction are obtained with compounds formulated to have high degrees of hardness.

In both field application and laboratory tests, polyurethane elastomers show a definite wear advantage over many other materials. The Thelin Test established a meaningful method of determining the abrasion resistance properties of a material by introducing a clean abrasive at prescribed intervals.

A case history of the wear performance of a polyurethane vibrating screen section exposed to continuous titanium slurry reported that the polyurethane screen section outlasted a stainless steel mesh by at least 400 times the service life, at only 7 times the cost. The stainless steel mesh screen lasted only 10 days before it needed to be replaced, causing extensive down-time costs.