Investigations into the Use of Guayule in Automotive Rubber Part Formulations

Guayule has been evaluated as an alternative to hevea natural rubber since the early 1900s. Recent price fluctuations of hevea natural rubber, driven by increased global demand for the material, have reinvigorated efforts to examine guayule as a replacement. Ford Motor Company has investigated the performance of rubber formulations in which guayule was substituted for hevea natural rubber at varying levels. Results from the studies provide information on the performance of compounds that contain 10-100% guayule, recipe modifications that can be made to modify the performance of the compounds for specific applications, and the interactions between guayule and fillers in the compounds.