Today’s News
Goodyear opts for renewable energy in European and Turkish plants
announced it will adopt 100% renewable energy at its Goodyear plants across Europe and Turkey in the first of a multiple-phase plan to procure 100% renewable energy in all its facilities across Europe, Middle East and Africa by the end of 2022.
Lubrizol helps enable the circular economy with 100% TPU prototype shoe
Lubrizol Engineered Polymers announces the launch of its first 100% TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) prototype shoe. The prototype meets the high-performance demands in the footwear industry while achieving greater sustainability through enhanced recyclability and less material waste
Elastomer market forecast to grow by $18.1 billion by 2025
The elastomers procurement category is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.05% during 2021-2025. The prices are outlined to rise by 4%-6% during the forecast period and suppliers will have a moderate bargaining power in this market. BASF SE, Dow Inc., and JSR Corp. are a few of the key suppliers in elastomers market according to SpendEdge
Apollo Tyres amongst the first few tyre makers to align with GPSNR policy framework
Apollo Tyres Ltd, has released its first natural rubber policy document that is fully aligned with the policy framework of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), and is amongst the first few companies to do so.
Global tire-derived fuels market forecast at $384.0 million by 2031
Tire derived fuels are fitting into a broader drive to improve environmental sustainability and address climate change. Several goals are seen as possible including renew ability, elimination of toxins, optimized design and manufacturing, recyclability and use of post-consumer content. Earlier scrap tires used to be dumped which used to pollute the land and consume lot of efforts for management. With the use of modern technologies to convert scrap tires into fuels has provided solution for more of the environment issues related to waste tires. Tire derived fuels are serving to important purposes such as providing an alternative option to companies such as cement, paper & pulp to use tire derived fuels to save fuel cost and to save environment issues related to waste tires.
Yokohama Tire returns as the official tire for Nitro Rallycross
Yokohama Tire has once again been named as the Official Tire Supplier for 2021 Nitro Rallycross (Nitro RX). Returning after a one-year hiatus, the five-race, adrenaline-fueled series that features all-wheel-drive, 600-plus horsepower vehicles, standing starts and 100-foot-plus jumps, will feature the ADVAN® A054 tire from Yokohama. The action begins September 24 at Utah Motorsports Campus near Salt Lake City.Nitro RX utilizes innovative, purpose-built tracks that feature some of the world’s best drivers, like Yokohama-sponsored Travis Pastrana, battling for the top spot. Besides Utah, this year’s Nitro RX races will take place in Nevada, Minnesota, Arizona and Florida
Still time to register for the International Elastomer Conference
In less than two weeks the International Elastomer Conference will being at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. There’s still time to register and join the best of our industry all under one roof. There are many ways to learn, connect and grow at this event.
Featured Articles
Targeting sustainable additives through derivatization of soybean oil
The use of soybean oil as a plasticizing agent in rubber compounds versus traditional petroleum based oils is examined.
Mixing
Keltan 2470E EPDM Grade for Excellent Electrical Performance in Wire and Cable
Ethylene propylene diene polymers (EPDM) are the most widely used rubbers in the range of available synthetic rubbers for non-tire applications. Due to the unsaturated backbone, EPDM can be employed in various applications in which characteristics such as resistance to ozone, heat and moisture, flexibility at low temperatures, a wide range of tensile strength and hardness levels, and excellent electrical insulating properties are important
Extrusion
Medical rubber tubing process and die optimization: Die redesign and fine tuning
Part 1 of this contribution, published in the May 2021 edition of Rubber World, investigated a real manufacturer’s process that was set to produce medical tubing. It was found (through trials at the extruder, then through simulations) that the equipment available to the manufacturer was too large for the relatively low output that was required for this project, and consequently the polymer was degrading on the screw surface. It was ultimately determined through simulation that a smaller extruder, with a screw optimized for the low rate, would work better.
Silicone
EMI silicone now part of U.S. Department of Defense qualified products list
Specialty Silicone Products (SSP) announced that SSP-2569-65, an EMI silicone filled with silver-copper particles, is now part of the Qualified Product List (QPL) for MIL-DTL-83528, Type A. In a July 22 letter, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) informed SSP that SSP-2569-65, a 65 durometer conductive elastomer for shielding and sealing, passed qualification testing and has been added to QPL MIL-DTL-83528 for specific drawings and material types.
Oil, Gas & Energy
Seals for hydrogen production via electrolysis
By providing seals for electrolyzers, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies is contributing to sustainable hydrogen production based on solar and wind power. The seals are designed for automated production, enabling a rapid buildup of high manufacturing capacities.
Testing & Instruments
Endurica tames road loads with new software release
Endurica LLC announces a new feature in its Endurica CL fatigue solver: automatic block cycle generation. The feature enables users to extract a simplified durability testing schedule (known as a block cycle test) from multi-channel road loads recorded at the testing track. The simplified testing schedule preserves the most essential features of the original road load history, while maintaining the original failure mode and discarding non-critical load history. The capability enables rubber part suppliers to design fatigue tests that execute quickly and that develop realistic damage. It enables car makers to ensure durability under actual driving conditions.
Molding
SmartFlow analysis optimizes silicone and rubber tooling design
Mold design processes today benefit from sophisticated
design software that creates 3D models easily exported to
manufacturing, CAM programming and metal cutting
Thermoplastic Elastomers & Urethanes
HeatBoss EPDM: High heat resistant EPDM promising for SAE J200 applications
In modern cars, the space for the engine compartment is continuously shrinking for both functional and aesthetic reasons. Increasing vehicle compactness by reducing the space available for design engineers results in hotter engine components which restrict the rubber materials that can be used. This has boosted a fast growing demand in the rubber industry for elastomer parts with durability and increased resistance to temperature extremes. Among elastomers, silicone elastomers and fluoroelastomers show very effective heat resistance resulting from the strong Si-O and C-F bonds present in their chemical structure. However, the main drawbacks are their high price and high processing cost that make compounding, molding and final production very expensive
Latex and Natural Rubber
Staying relevant in a changing industry
In previous Rubber World columns, I have discussed the reintroduction of the manufacture of latex gloves back into the U.S. after a 25 year absence. During those years, in Southeast Asia, there have been significant, evolutionary improvements to the equipment, processing, formulations, and the latex itself. The challenge we face is to develop a competitive, sustainable manufacturing capability in the U.S., utilizing some of the personnel who were involved in glove manufacturing years ago, and merging their experience with new ways of thinking and problem solving.
The September Issue of Rubber World
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