The Rubber Division announces August and September’s learning opportunities

Akron, OH – The Rubber Division has the following virtual and in-person training opportunities available for August and September.

August 4 – Course: Interactive Compound Development & Problem Solving
August 5 – Course: Elastomers for Selective Gas Separation, including Carbon Capture
August 9 – Course: Natural Fillers for Rubber Compounds
August 10 – Course: Rubber Extrusion Technology
August 30 – Course: Hazardous Communication
September 21 – Course: Sustainability in the Rubber Industry

August 4 – Interactive Compound Development & Problem Solving (In-person at ARDL in Barberton, OH & lunch is included)
This course will be split into three sections. It will start with an introduction to compound development, how to choose raw materials for a starting point and how to tweak an existing formulation. Next, participants will have an opportunity to break into small groups and work as a team to develop a compound to meet a set of requirements. Each group will be led by an ARDL “coach” who will help guide the participants through the material selection process they learned about. Each group will have an opportunity to present their compound to the group and explain how they chose each material. The third portion of the course will conclude with a brief introduction to problem solving in the rubber industry and will review some of the testing that can be done to facilitate failure analysis in the event that your compound or product fails. A tour of ARDL’s Barberton building will be included, along with a demonstration about how a rubber compound is mixed, milled and cured. Click here for full details.

August 10 – Rubber Extrusion Technology (Available online only)
The course will offer an overview of the variety of commercially viable rubber extrusion processes and examine their strengths and weaknesses. Next, we will go into a more in depth look at the three most common rubber extrusion processes i.e. Liquid Curing Media (LCM), better known as the Salt Bath process, Hot Air Vulcanization (HAV) and Microwave/Hot Air Vulcanization. The emphasis will be on practical knowledge that can be utilized in production. In all areas, specific safety concerns will be highlighted and addressed. First, the common elements to all extrusion processes, namely the extruder and its components, plus dies and other tooling will be reviewed. The course then will look at each of the three most common and important extrusion processes in more depth, giving useful ideas for process improvements that the participants can apply in their own manufacturing. The course will conclude with a brief look at rubber compound development for the extrusion processes emphasizing important compound design features. Samples of products made using rubber extrusion processes will be available. Click here for full details.

September 21 – Sustainability in the Rubber Industry (Available online only)
This course is a technical review of sustainable raw materials for the rubber industry. This will include recycled polymers, carbon blacks, oils and green fillers. We will review where they come from, how they are produced and how you can use them.

Course Content: Devulcanized vs. Reclaim Rubber, Devulcanized Methods, Compounding with Devulc, Devulc Additives, Devulc Case Studies, Recycled Carbon Black Processes, Compounding with RCB, RCB Case Studies, Recycled Minerals, Recycled Minerals Case Study, Sustainable Fillers, Plant based polymers and Plant based oils

Visit www.rubber.org for full details