Some considerations on optimum mixing with respect to the full developmentof rubber - carbon black morphology

Preparing filled rubber compounds is achieved through quite a complex seque nce of operations that under the general heading "mixing" hide a more or le ss complicated series of physico-rheological events. On the factory floor, actual mixing operations essentially result from pragmatic experience, some times without much clear understanding. Starting from simple considerations about the basic objectives of mixing, with respect to most recent findings about rubber - filler morphology, the paper will focus on fundamental aspe cts of this important processing step, Investigations about the kinetic asp ect of carbon black dispersion in rubber and the links that can be demonstr ated between bound rubber and flow properties, show that those are importan t criteria in understanding the complexity of rubber mixing.