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The Importance of Testing Rubber Materials

Various industries today have the option to maximise a wide array of materials in creating their parts and products. One of the materials that they often utilise is rubber.

Rubber is one of the most commonly used materials all over the world due to its accompanying features. For one, rubber products have significantly high tear and tensile strength, which makes them suitable for most industrial and even domestic applications. Parts and products made from rubber are likewise known for their resistance to abrasion and friction. They can even tolerate extreme temperatures.

But not all rubber materials boast similar features and characteristics. Some may be truly strong enough to carry out specific applications, but others might not do the same thing.

Testing Rubber Materials is Needed

To ensure that rubber materials and their products are compatible with a specific application, they must be tested first. Testing the rubber materials can provide a wide array of useful information to industries that would use them in the long run. Doing this can likewise confirm or invalidate certain hypotheses or assumptions about the materials, which can be very helpful in common to critical applications.

The testing of rubber materials does not only determine their compatibility to certain applications but is also done to make sure that the materials can be used safely. Catastrophic failures can bombard project sites and plants that maximise incompatible or faulty rubber materials. Testing them can protect both the people and the nearby equipment pieces and tools from obtaining injuries and damages. Doing this can also grant users ample knowledge about the best rubber materials for their processes.

Without testing the rubber materials and their products, they would surely fail during operations due to various elements. Some of these elements include fluctuating temperature demands, unequal time of usage, and drastic operating requirements.

Common Steps in Rubber Testing

Rubber testing can be done in just a few steps.

First, the rubber products will be cleaned internally and externally. This step ensures that any unwanted dirty elements are already removed before subjecting the rubber products to lab tests and inspections. Once the rubber products are cleaned, they are then inspected visually. A visual inspection can confirm if the products are in good condition. Those that already have cracks, punctures, and scratches are removed from further testing since they already pose some risks to the users.

The next step in rubber testing is electrical testing. This step verifies the maximum degrees of electrical voltage the rubber products can hold. Rubber products that cannot work with the required electrical voltage of an application are removed from testing since they would easily burn due to heat. Testing the rubber materials under various operating environments and high fatigue situations are likewise conducted to see if they can prevent strain, crack growth, and crack nucleation.

Certification and date stamping are then carried out to confirm that the rubber products have passed various testing processes. The certified rubber products are ultimately packed and shipped.

To know more about testing rubber materials, you can always call us at VSRP.