Rubber Compound Development

A strong core competency of ours is rubber formulation development. Coming up with the right recipe or “rubber formula” is the critical starting point in providing best in class rubber parts.

Our in house Chemists work to develop a formulation that satisfies all customer requirements, is highly processable and is cost effective.

Custom Mixing of Rubber

Critical to our success is the ability to mix rubber compounds in house. Our staff of chemists and engineers will work as a team in establishing mixing processes that will yield very consistent batch to batch reliability. It is clear to us that in house mixing is a key tool in the process refinement of our compounds. We aren’t satisfied until our materials are capable of molding zero defects and processing efficiently. With the extensive library of rubber formulas on hand you can be certain that we will choose the best compound for your application. Learn more about Rahco’s Custom Rubber Mixing.

Batch to Batch Consistency

All customers want a high level of confidence that every lot of parts received will perform the same. To accomplish this, our internal controls include the following:

  • Computerized ingredient weigh system
  • Ingredient bar coding
  • Mixing process monitoring for all variables
  • Lab testing for each batch of rubber mixed, customized as required
  • Complete lot to lot and part traceability
  • Material certification
  • Partnership with outside independent lab to test and certify as required

Custom Color Matching

Rubber Molded Guitar Straps

To complement our custom mixing capabilities we also offer custom color matching. We can produce a pure white compound or just about any color you can imagine. Whether you provide us with a Pantone or RAL number, or simply a sample part. Either way we can give you the match you need and in production can guarantee that the color will be the same each time. Learn more about Rahco’s Custom Color Matching.

NSF 61/FDA Compounds

We have compounds capable of satisfying NSF 61 requirements for potable water. We also routinely produce FDA compliant compounds for food service and other uses. This includes non-black rubber compounds which we can custom match to just about any color.

Hot Water Chloramines

With today’s type of potable water purification techniques, resistance to Chloromines in water at elevated temperatures is critical. Compounds not designed to withstand this harsh environment will swell excessively and eventually deteriorate. We have proven compounds that are perfect for these applications.

ASTM Material Testing

We routinely develop and test compounds to meet ASTM material callouts. Gas and oil swell, low and high temperature resistance, ozone and UV resistance are just some of the examples of the testing we do.

Free Analysis

Materials Chart

Polymer Natural Rubber Styrene Butadiene Ethylene Propylene Chloroprene Butyl Nitrile Epichlorohydrin Urethane Silicone Fluorosilicone Fluorocarbon
Common Name Natural Rubber SBR EPDM Neoprene Butyl Nitrile Hydrin Urethane Silicone Fluorosilicone Viton
ASTM Designation NR SBR EPDM CR IIR NBR ECO EU VMQ FVMQ FKM
Properties
Tear Excellent Fair Good Good Good Fair Fair Outstanding Poor Poor Fair
Abrasion Excellent Good Good Excellent Good Good Good Outstanding Poor Poor Good
Compression Set Good Good Very Good Fair Fair Good Fair Fair Very Good Very Good Very Good
Weathering Excellent Very Good Excellent Excellent Excellent Good Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Oxidation Good Good Excellent Very Good Very Good Good Very Good Good Excellent Excellent Excellent
Ozone Poor Poor Excellent Very Good Very Good Poor Very Good Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Dielectric Excellent Good Good Very Good Very Good Poor Good Fair Good Good Good
Temp Range
High Good Good Excellent Good Good Very Good Excellent Good Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding
Low Excellent Good Excellent Good Good Good Good Good Outstanding Good Outstanding
Fluid Resistance
Water Very Good Very Good Excellent Good Very Good Fair Good Poor Good Very Good Very Good
Alcohol Good Fair Poor Fair Fair Excellent Good Good Good Excellent Excellent
Fuel, Oil Poor Poor Poor Good Poor Excellent Excellent Good Fair Excellent Excellent