Rubber Testing

Rubber is used commonly for its elastic and durable characteristics; however, it is still prone to failure. Rubber testing is important to avoid catastrophic failure in manufacturing applications. To ensure the rubber used in manufacturing will perform to expectations during its end use, rubber testing analysis and fatigue testing are essential. Depending on why the test is being performed, whether it is for research and development or to meet industry requirements or quality control, chemical and physical tests on rubber are to be performed.

Properties such as melting point, dropping point, volatile substances, refractive index, viscosity, active substance determination, acid number, plasticity retention index, etc. are tested in a rubber testing laboratory. Identification of organic and inorganic components of rubber and performance testing are conducted as part of rubber testing. Since rubber has many applications in modern life and the fields in which it is used are broad, hardness, tensile strength, elongation, volume change after fluid exposure and heat resistance are to be tested as well. Rubber testing helps one to acquire information about the structure and mechanical properties of the material.

Why is rubber testing important?

To resist failure due to wear and tear

To ensure it is nontoxic and safe to use

To be durable enough to withstand adverse climatic conditions

To meet the required codes and standards of the industry

To understand if a specific material can be used for a particular application

Services provided

We offer a wide range of services for rubber products and our expert team of engineers is equipped to design custom plans for your unique needs. The following methods are used to model a comprehensive analysis to understand the properties of rubber.

1) Analytical testing (chemical analysis): To examine chemical characteristics of rubber, the techniques used are:

Liquid Chromatography: To separate a mixture of compounds to identify and quantify the individual components.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM): To yield information about microstructures.

Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA): To analyze the dimensional changes of material.

X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer: To determine the elemental composition of material.

2) Physical testing (mechanical testing): To measure physical characteristics like strength, flexibility, specific gravity and density using methods like:

Adhesion testing: To understand material interaction with coatings, adhesives, and bonds.

Tension testing: To evaluate the tensile properties of rubber.

Specific gravity testing: To determine density and which rubber polymer is present in the product.

Electrical testing: To check material volume resistivity and surface conductivity for materials that encounter electrical charges.

Durometer hardness: To test resistance to deformation under load.

Additionally, we also test polymeric materials like plastics and resins to understand their chemical, mechanical and thermal characteristics. We `deliver clear and accurate reporting for all your rubber testing needs while following internationally recognized standards.