January

ArticlesFeatured
RubberWorld 975 Views ,

Takeaways from a half century in the latex industry

I retired recently, but still feel contributive and expect to be so for quite a while. The expression, “If you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,” sums up what I believe. It helps to have a positive attitude, as well. This attitude provides resilience and sustainability in the face of uncertain outcomes. After more than 50 years in the latex industry, I would like to share a few of my takeaways from those years.

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ArticlesFeaturedTesting & Instruments
RubberWorld 2884 Views , ,

How to increase throughput when testing elastomers

When elastomers are being used in a manufacturing process, it is important to verify their physical properties by performing testing
at all stages of production. When researching and developing new elastomers, such as those used in tires, extensive testing is required to verify and validate each elastomeric compound. Research and development facilities for elastomeric materials will sometimes go through hundreds or thousands of specimens before moving on toward production. During production, testing is typically performed for quality control purposes

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ArticlesFeaturedTesting & Instruments
RubberWorld 2627 Views ,

Application of advanced gel permeation chromatography to the characterization of styrenic copolymers

Products produced by anionic polymerization of nonpolar monomers, such as polybutadienes (BR), polyisoprenes (IR), solution styrene butadiene rubbers (SSBR) and styrenic block copolymers (SBC), already dominate important positions in industries. Examples include thermoplastic elastomers, adhesives, impact modifiers, lubricant modifiers, vulcanized compounds, asphalt modification and others. SBCs combine the properties of a thermoplastic resin, polystyrene and those of an elastomer, polybutadiene, polyisoprene or poly(ethylene-co-butylene). SBCs derive their useful properties from their ability to form distinct styrene (hard phase) and diene (rubber phase) domains

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ArticlesFeaturedTesting & Instruments
RubberWorld 3091 Views ,

Optimized laboratory test condition to predict tire tread wear

Research on the mechanism of tire wear and its rubber test methods has been carried out for more than a century, ever since the advent of pneumatic tires, and there are still numerous new reports being published even now. ISO 23794:2015 standardizes the general outline of 14 types of rubber wear test methods, such as the Akron wear test, the Lambourn wear test and the DIN wear test. The Akron wear test and Lambourn wear test, which introduce slippage between the pavement surface and the rubber sample, are suitable for evaluating tire tread wear resistance. Historically, Lambourn was the first to propose a laboratory wear tester that correlated with tire wear test results

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