Rubber Testing for Industrial Use

Rubber testing allows us to fully understand the characteristics, behaviors, and chemical makeups of the rubber and silicone products used in production. ACE Laboratories offers a wide variety of physical and analytical tests that offer valuable insight into these traits to support innovation, compliance, and efficiency in industrial use of rubber. 

Rubber testing is common for many industrial rubber goods, including automotive parts, rubber hoses and belts, o-rings, rubber seals, industrial sheeting, and more. ACE can help you troubleshoot during new product development or confirm the reliability of your rubber against wear and tear. Whatever your goals are, the rubber experts at ACE make it our mission to help you meet them.

Testing for industrial uses of rubber is useful when you have research and development goals and compliance requirements to meet.

When it comes to research and development, an analytical and physical rubber testing laboratory like ACE can design a course of testing to help troubleshoot barriers or test the strengths and limitations of a new product. Or, gain a greater understanding of competitor products with reverse engineering services. 

For compliance needs, ACE can provide analytical testing to identify the presence of certain materials, such as heavy metals, in a rubber or silicone material. 

Overall, rubber testing is an important part of preparing products for industrial use. By providing data that may predict how products will perform and assists in understanding a material’s properties, ACE can help manufacturers streamline production to bring products to market more quickly.

Industrial Rubber Goods

Below, learn more about commonly tested industrial rubber products and the importance of rubber testing in their production.

Automotive Rubber Parts

Automotive materials and components have to go through rigorous testing before they can be approved for use. Automotive parts need to be compliant with industry standards in order to be safe and effective. 

Rubber testing laboratories like ACE provide comprehensive testing that moves your automotive rubber parts through testing quickly for fast approval. 

Common tests used in automotive rubber part testing include flammability, abrasion resistance, impact resistance, and flexing endurance tests.

Rubber Hoses & Belts

Rubber hoses and belts are at a high risk for electrochemical degradation. This occurs when heat and chemicals eat away at the inside of the hose, creating pinholes. Heat and oils from the engine are the primary cause of this effect. 

For this reason, it is important for rubber hoses and belts to be sufficiently resistant to heat and oil. While it is understood that belts and hoses may wear down over time, premature degradation should be avoided.

ACE typically uses corrosion, weathering, and ozone testing to ensure that rubber hoses and belts are satisfactory.

Industrial O-Rings & Rubber Seals

O-rings, gaskets, and rubber seals prevent fluid and vapor leakage, maintain pressure, and keep debris out of machinery, so it is critical for safety and proper machine functioning that these parts perform as designed. 

To work well, o-rings need to conform to industry standard measurements, including hardness, tensile strength, and specific gravity. 

Rubber testing services relevant to o-rings and other seals include aging, tensile, and temperature testing. 

Industrial Rubber Sheeting & More

Industrial rubber sheeting is a highly versatile product, used to create a suite of other industrial products of rubber. Many industries rely on industrial rubber sheets, including medicine, railways, automotive, defense, marine, footwear, and more.

Due to this versatility, rubber sheets need to have a variety of qualities in order to perform well, no matter their eventual use. These qualities include stability and durability, resistance to water, air, and dust, and in some cases, adhesion.

Test methods that ACE can use to help confirm rubber sheeting’s readiness for the next step in its manufacturing process include abrasion testing, impact resistance testing, heat aging, and ozone testing.

Rubber Testing for Compliance

Industrial rubber products need to meet certain compliance standards, including EPA and RoHS standards. Additional compliance requirements vary by industry, depending on the unique needs of products of rubber in their end uses.

The rubber industry experts at ACE Laboratories have decades of combined experience helping rubber manufacturers test products for compliance. Then, if products need to be adjusted in order to meet compliance standards, ACE partners with manufacturers to troubleshoot issues and come up with solutions. 

ACE Laboratories

ACE is proud of our excellent customer service and industry-leading turnaround times. Receive your test results quickly so you can move on to the next step in the manufacturing process, whether it’s a second round prototype or shipping to your customers.

ASTM Test Methods

ACE employs reliable, repeatable ASTM rubber testing methods to bring you accurate and timely results. From there, ACE can help analyze the results to inform research and development efforts, or troubleshoot compliance or quality control issues. 

ACE offers a wide variety of physical and analytical tests, including… 

• Heat Aging
• Abrasion Testing
• Tension Testing
• Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
• Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
• Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
• Wet Chemistry

ACE is always up for a challenge. Whether you need routine compliance testing or want to develop an innovative new product, our technicians will work hard to deliver the critical test results that help you achieve your goals. 

ISO/IEC 17025 Accredited

When it comes to your industrial rubber products, you need test results you can trust. ACE’s rubber testing laboratory is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited, which means we can’t rest on our prior accomplishments. ACE must consistently meet high ISO/IEC standards to maintain accreditation. 

What does this mean for the rubber manufacturers ACE partners with? It means they receive reliable, accurate, and repeatable test results in a timely and personable manner.

Industrial Rubber Testing with ACE

Need to meet compliance standards? Developing a new industrial rubber product? ACE Laboratories is here to support your project, whatever it may be. You bring the challenge, ACE will bring the tools and knowledge to help you beat it.

Learn more about rubber testing with ACE.