- Physical-Mechanical Testing
- Physical-Mechanical Testing of Products
- Physical-Mechanical Testing of Materials
- Custom Mixing, milling, & molding
- Unvulcanized Rubber
- Properties in Tension & Compression at Various Temperatures
- Flex & Fatigue
- Abrasion Resistance
- Cold Temperature Properties
- Dynamic Mechanical Analysis
- Environmental conditioning & exposure
- Adhesion
- Hardness & Density
- Coefficient of Friction
- Cut & Chip Resistance
- Additional Plastics Testing
- Reference Materials
- Composites Testing
- Chemical-Analytical
- Technology Consulting
- Processing & Development
- Information Services
- Fully computerized for consistent reproducible processing.
- Can be used for non-black compounds if required.
- A range of sizes are available.
- We have two rubber extruders that can be used to extrude simple rubber profiles.
- Useful for preparing strip compounds for use or prior to a further moulding process.
- We have a range of presses for curing and product manufacture.
- Molds can be made for parts
- Autoclave for post-curing.
Rubber Processing
Smithers has a wealth of knowledge and experience in rubber material consulting, compounding, material development and part manufacture. Solutions have been provided to complex issues since 1919. Our formulation abilities cover a broad range of rubbers for a large variety of products. Rubber compounds have been developed for material suppliers, product manufacturers and designers. Smithers Rapra has worked in most industry sectors including: automotive, medical, industrial, transport and consumer goods.
Our rubber material consulting, compounding or product development expertise can be targeted at meeting an existing specification, optimizing an existing compound, or at developing a material for a novel application for which there is only the broad outline of a material specification.
The onsite rubber processing laboratory consists of a range of small scale equipment suitable for bespoke manufacturing and compound development. We can supply both high specification rubber compound and molded parts. Our experience and in depth understanding of compounding enables our processing team to solve complex issues. Key areas of specialization include rubber to metal bonding and precision low volume manufacture.
The processing centre is geared up to meet the smallest of jobs with fast response times, coupled with compounding accuracy. This client focused approach makes our center ideal for your prototype development.
Banbury internal mixer
This is the typical starting point and has a batch size of about 1.3 kg. Larger quantities can be done in multiple mixes and blended together.
2-roll mills
Used for adding final cure additives and banding-off sheet material.
Rubber extruders
Molding Equipment
Cure and Testing
The processing is all backed up with rheology/cure measurements and a large range of physical testing in our other labs.