Today’s News
PEFC focuses on sustainable rubber in ASEAN countries
As 85% of the world’s natural rubber comes from Southeast Asia, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) has focused its attention this year on the region to help make sure it is harvested and supplied using best sustainable practices
Communica joins Hercules Tires and Team Liquid to create first ever Hercules Tires Esports Invitational Series
The phrase “skin in the game” takes on a whole new meaning as full-service integrated marketing communications firm Communica is partnering with its client, Hercules Tires, as well as Team Liquid and Rocket League to present the first Hercules Tires Esports Invitational Series, a new esports competition. Esports has become a major entertainment vehicle, with an estimated 250 million players and spectators around the world.
RDAbbott opens NovationSi headquarters and Northeast Ohio materials science and logistics hub
R.D. Abbott Co., Inc. (RDAbbott) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the headquarters for NovationSi, its manufacturing subsidiary, at 25 Foundation Place in Barberton, Ohio. The 127,126 sq. ft. facility is also the Northeast hub for RDAbbott, a materials science, engineering, and distribution company that is advancing rubber technologies and connecting customers with the best products and services. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, October 8, 2021, at 8:30 AM and followed by guided tours
Rubber molding market size is forecast to reach $52.0 billion by 2026
Rubber Molding Market size is forecast to reach $52.0 billion by 2026, after growing at a CAGR of 5.0% during 2021-2026 according to IndustryARC. Physical attributes such as strength, stress and heat resistance, recyclability, flexibility, and ease moldability of rubber compounds are ideal components for rubber molding. Widespread application of rubber molding in healthcare, aerospace, automotive manufacturing, electronics, transportation, sports and recreation, EMI shielding and sound management, has been driven because of low energy usage and carbon footprint. Moreover, the synthetic rubber is getting used in numerous applications of healthcare industry because of its capabilities such as avoiding allergic reactions while transferring intravenous fluids
Protolabs expands manufacturing footprint in Raleigh, NC
Protolabs has signed an occupancy agreement to expand its additive manufacturing footprint in the Raleigh, N.C., area. Breaking ground later this month, the second location will add 120,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing capacity to its current facility located nearby in Morrisville, N.C. The additional location is in response to growing demand for Protolabs’ 3D printing services.
Bridgestone and Penske Truck Leasing renew contract for technology and mobility solutions
Bridgestone Americas and Penske Truck Leasing announced the contact renewal of their strategic partnership to test, develop and deploy Bridgestone advanced technology and mobility solutions for the commercial segment in the U.S. and Canada with a focus on more cost-effective and sustainable results for fleets. As part of the agreement, Penske will also remain a preferred customer of Bridgestone commercial tires and Bandag retread tires.
Silicone Elastomers World Summit adds new speaker to agenda
Ekaterina Gorbunova, Vice President, Development & Support Leader for Elastomers for the OCSiAl Group has been added as a speaker for the Silicone Elastomers World Summit being held November 29-30 in Berlin. She will lead a presentation on new generation of highly conductive silicones for flexible electrodes, healthcare devices, electronics and EV applications on Tuesday 30 November at 14:50 (CET).
Site of the Week
AGC Chemicals
AGC Chemicals Americas is a wholly owned subsidiary of AGC Inc., a $13.6 billion multinational corporation and one of the
Featured Articles
Novel value-added thermoplastic elastomers bonding to polyamides
Bonding thermoplastic elastomers to polar and non-polar substrates has been widely studied in the past few decades to create products that enhance ergonomic comfort and functionality. Overmolding a TPE compared to two-shot molding is a litmus test for bonding the material to the substrate. The TPE must wet the cold surface and must melt a few nanometers of the surface of the substrate that is being overmolded on to facilitate bonding.
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
Guill Tool introduces a co-extrusion crosshead designed for irrigation tubing
Guill Tool introduces Series 824, a co-extrusion crosshead designed for irrigation tubing with an emitter tool. Manufactured from stainless steel, this new crosshead features balanced flow design with spiral technology that improves flow characteristics at all extruder speeds. Dual feed ports provide concentric compound flow, while the splits flow from one extruder to feed the inside and outside layers via a manifold assembly. Series 824 is adaptable to all popular extruders on the market currently
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
Thermoplastic polymer has API 610 recognition
CDI Energy Products announced that its latest material to achieve API 610 recognition outperformed service life expectations under extremely corrosive sulfuric acid conditions. API 610 is the standard for centrifugal pumps for the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries. CDI’s proprietary thermoplastic polymer composite, Dures 200, was the foundation for critical components developed for an API 610 vertical single casing diffuser pump (VS1) for a high production sulfuric acid plant. CDI’s material scientists and engineers collaborated with the pump OEM to custom design suction bell eye case rings, bowl eye case rings and bowl bushings which could sustain differential pressures of over 200 psi, coupled with an extreme temperature profile of -20°F to 105°F (-28.8°C to 40.55°C).
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
Novel value-added thermoplastic elastomers bonding to polyamides
Bonding thermoplastic elastomers to polar and non-polar substrates has been widely studied in the past few decades to create products that enhance ergonomic comfort and functionality. Overmolding a TPE compared to two-shot molding is a litmus test for bonding the material to the substrate. The TPE must wet the cold surface and must melt a few nanometers of the surface of the substrate that is being overmolded on to facilitate bonding.
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 October Issue of Rubber World
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This issue focuses on Thermoplastic Elastomers / Urethanes
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