Enhanced Rheological Characterization for Rubber Compounds

With the ever increasing market demand for rubber products, those in compounding and manufacturing are tasked with the challenge of increasing output without sacrificing efficiencies. This naturally increases the requirements of processes such as mixing, extruding, and injection molding in the rubber industry. Many factors contribute to the success or failure of a compound formulation to meet the required processing and performance criteria. The physical and chemical properties of the raw polymer are among the most important, including molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, and the degree of long-chain branching. Rheological characterization is perhaps the most powerful technique for quickly and easily obtaining information about these properties, enabling process/production engineers and compounder’s invaluable information about processibility of raw polymers and processed compounds. The talk provides insights into recent advancements made using Fourier transform rheological analysis and the interpretation of the information from these measurements primarily related to compound formulation.