New effective methods for measuring - Property performance of silicone compounds

Silicone rubber processability problems can be Very costly. New methods hav e been developed using the RPA 2000 Rubber process Analyzer to improve sens itivity to these problems, identify the,,assignable causes of variation" an d take the necessary corrective actions. These test methods measure differe nces in dynamic viscosity, shear thinning behavior, and elasticity differen ces which have significant effects on the way these compounds process in pl ant production. The effects of variations in average molecular weight, and molecular weight distribution of the base silicone polymer as well as parti cle size and surface chemistry of fumed silica loadings were studied.