Elastomers are viscoelastic materials; they combine solid and liquid characteristics. During processing operations, these materials are deformed in different ways and show a viscoelastic behavior. The viscoelastic properties have a powerful influence on the rubber products performance. These properties should be measured in order to predict, in some cases, the elastomers behavior during processing. This brief review gives more emphasis to the elastomer rheological characterization using the Rubber Process Analyzer (RPA).
Elastomers; rheology; elastomer compounds; Rubber Process Analyzer (RPA)
