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Evaluation of Recycled Rubber Materials in Automotive Elastomers
Janice L. Tardiff*, Cynthia M. Flanigan, Madeline M. Harper
Ford Motor Company
The automotive industry uses a significant amount of rubber and is in a unique position to incorporate recycled tire materials into a range of vehicle parts, which would divert large amounts of rubber material from landfills. Key challenges of using recycled materials include ensuring a consistent feedstock of the raw chemicals into the new parts as well as incorporating them into existing rubber formulations, with no loss in performance. This study focuses on evaluation of selected recycled materials from tires into model elastomer formulations. Technical case studies were conducted using recycled carbon black and rubber in synthetic EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber and SBR (styrene butadiene rubber). Rheological and physical properties of recycled rubber formulations were compared to data from compounds using virgin materials, including assessment of cure kinetics, tensile properties, durometer and tear resistance. Analysis of the recycled elastomer properties and selected performance requirements provided information on potential use of different recycled materials in future automotive parts. Key technical challenges and outlook for using recycled materials in automotive rubber compounds are discussed.
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