Material Development

    Rubber and Plastic Compounding

    Smithers has a wealth of knowledge and experience in rubber compounding and material development, solutions have been provided to complex issues since 1919. Our formulation abilities cover a broad range of polymers for a large variety of products. Rubber and Plastic compounds have been developed for material suppliers, product manufacturers and designers. Our work covers most industry sectors including; automotive, medical, industrial, transport and consumer goods.

    Compound development can be targeted at meeting an existing specification, optimising an existing compound, or at developing a material for a novel application for which there is only the broad outline of a material specification.

    Using our in-house compounding and material test facilities, trial batches of compounds can be designed, manufactured and tested to ensure that they meet all of our client’s requirements.

    Rubber and plastics are normally compounded with many different additives. These additives include fillers, plasticisers, process aids, vulcanising agents, accelerators, and protective agents. The choice of which type of ingredient to use, and its level, can exert an enormous influence on the final properties of the compound, and its long term durability. An incorrect choice of an ingredient for a given application can lead to premature failure, and hence the methods used to compound a rubber or plastic are as important as selecting the correct polymer type for an application.

    Once a suitable compound has been developed for an application Smithers Rapra can supply trial lots of the material for evaluation in the factory and for the manufacture of prototypes. The compounding equipment for plastics is very flexible. A range of gravimetric feeders, side feeders and liquid addition pumps make almost any configuration possible.

    The internal mixing equipment for rubber is capable of making small scale batches avoiding scrap materials and time.

    The benefits to you

    • Ownership and control of your own formulation
    • Independent advice to achieve optimum material performance and processing
    • Optimization of existing compounds to achieve better performance and durability
    • Provides the ability to change your product manufacturer without the need to change or develop a new compound
    • Removes the need to tie up valuable staff and in-house resources on material development