Rubber Compounding and Fabrication Lab

Experiment # 1
Fabrication of Extruding Profiles

Submitted by
Mehroz Anjum
2012-pe-40
Group # 7
Dated: 4 Feb 2015

Submitted to
Dr. Farhan Saeed

Elastomeric Extrusion
1-Objective
To fabricate the extruding profile using elastomeric extruder.

2- Equipment and Material

Extruder
Burner
Saw (for cutting)
Natural rubber

3- Introduction
Fabrication
The process of converting a raw material into a finished product. Raw of semi-finished rubber is
processed into useful products.

Extruders
Extrusion is the process of producing objects of fixed cross-section by
forcing the material through the die of desired cross-section.
Extruders consist of screw (used to move the material forward) and a
barrel (around the screw). Barrel hold the material and also helps in
temperature control. Hopper is installed to enter the feed (rubber)
into the extruder. Elastomeric extruders usually have very short length
to diameter ratio. And these have no sections as the plasticating
extruders.

Figure 1- Screw extruder

Usually there are two types of extruders:

1- Screw extruders: these extruders have a screw to move the
material through the extruder.
2- Ram type extruders: these extruders consist of a ram which forces
the material through the material (just like piston).
They can also be classified as feed type as:
1- Hot feed extruder: these extruders are suitable for the feed that
Figure 2 Ram extruder
needs pre-heating or a higher temperature for processing.
2- Cold feed extruder: these extruders are suitable for the feeds that require no preheating or that degrade upon high temperature exposure.

Compounding Elastomers
These are broadly classified into two categories:
1- Thermosetting elastomers: These elastomers are cured or vulcanized to produce certain
cross-linking between the polymer chains. This cross-linking is irreversible.
Common examples include Butadiene rubber, Chlorinated polyethylene, Natural rubber,
Polysulphide etc.
2- Thermoplastic elastomers: There elastomers can be processed as thermoplastics. They
require little or no curing (no curing system required).
Common examples include thermoplastic urethane rubbers, polyester amide rubber etc.

4-Procedure
The very first stage of the process was to fit the die into the extruder. The die was then heated
for almost 20 minutes (to achieve a temperature of almost 40-50 0C. The die was then tightly
fixed into the extruder. Meanwhile, the natural rubber was cut into thin, long cross-sections.
The heating was then stopped and the extruder turned on. The rubber was then fed into the
extruder and forced by means of a plunger. A continuous u-shaped profile of the rubber
appeared through the extruder. This profile was then placed in an oven at almost 170 0C for
about 20 minutes.

5-Observations and Discussions

In the raw form, rubber used was irregular in shape and was flexible enough to be split into two
fractions by manual force. Rubber was kept at temperature below room temperature, or
otherwise it would set and would not be suitable for extrusion process.
After the rubber was fed into the extruder, it melted due the shearing action of screw and the
heat provided. The rubber appeared as a u shaped profile (due to u shaped die). The rubber
was now in a more regular structure. Rubber was sticky. Rubber showed elastic behavior as it
returned to original shape after bending or stretching (up to certain extent).
After curing, the structure of rubber improved. It was not sticky. The strength of the material
also increased.

References
An Introduction to Rubber Technology by Andrew Cielislki
Elastomeric engineering guide by James Walker