Newbie to Rubber Quality Control

[mohinderlamba]

My background is software engineering. I am new to the other engineering diciplines. I will be procuring "Rubber and Rubber bonded to steel" parts for the automotive industry.
I want to know what are the "Quality control" standards in Rubber and what equipment is used to test the quality.
I know about the hardness and we have a hardness tester I am sure there are several other tests for physical requirements and also for chemical requirements.

 

[swall]

Tensile tests, compression set, ozone resistance, temperature resistance, fluid resistance are a few that come to mind.

 

[mohinderlamba]

Great. I can already see that Tensile, Compression, Temperature are a must for my industry.
I guess I can get a lab to test the part and give me the numbers that I need to use for quality control of the manufactured part.

Also, I guess this has to do with the chemical composition of the "Rubber".
What is "Ash Content" ?
Why does a rubber part has a "shelf life", how can one increase it?

 

[dershr]

Hi Mohinder,

We are a supplier of quality automobile parts.

We are also a supplier of quality bonded metal to rubber parts. [We are famous for these.]


Quality control standards: Usually, the buyer specifies the properties of the material that he needs... Then we will select the appropriate material for our buyer.

We can supply test results for the buyer to verify that our material and products are up to par.

So this way, Mohinder, you shouldn't need to do any testing for yourselves.


Shelf life: Rubber products can deteriorate over time, and selecting the right material and compound can lengthen the life of the rubber parts.

UV and some chemicals can really shorten rubber's life.

How long do you need?

Natural rubber may not be the best choice for metal/rubber bonded parts for heavy duty truck suspension.


Ash: Ash can be used as a filler reinforcer of natural rubber. As you know: products aren't made with pure rubber material, they are compounded with many additives.

Mohinder, if you need any more assistance, please contact me through my website so that I can assist you further.


Anything else?
Andy

 

[JIM317]

No one has mentioned the most important test--rubber to metal adhesion.
Ash is a laboratory test that indicates % inorganic materials (ZnO and other metallic oxides if present). ASH cannot be used as a reinforcing filler for rubber as the previous post states.
Lord Chemical can be a source of rubber to metal adhesion data --and you should check the ACS Rubber Division --Rubber.org---for literature sources.
JIM KELLY

 

[mohinderlamba]

Thank you all for your input. It is quite obvious that I need to do some homework.
Although I am a bit dissappointed that Andy who is the manufacturer and specializes in the rubber products gave me an explaination of "ASH" that Jim does not at all agree with. But I will go to Rubber.org as suggested and get it from there.