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Glossary of Terms - Rubber Industry

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RUBBER TERMINOLOGY
Abrasion:
The surface loss of a material due to
frictional forces.
Abrasion Resistance Index:
A measure of the abrasion resistance of a
vulcanized rubber relative to that of a
standard vulcanized rubber under the
same specified conditions.
Accelerated Life Test:
Method designed to approximate, in a
short time, the deteriorating effect of
normal, long term service conditions.
Accelerator (Rubber):
A compounding material used in small
amounts with a vulcanizing agent to
increase the speed of vulcanization.
Note: Properties of a vulcanizate are
changed by the type or amount of
accelerator used.

Adhesive Failure:
A separation of two bonded surfaces that
occurs within the bonding material.
Note: Adhesive failure occurs when the
adhesive strength of a bonding material is
greater than it's cohesive strength.
Aftercure:
A continuation of the process of vulcanization
after the energy source has been removed.
Age Resistance:
The ability of a material resist aging.
Agglomerate, Compounding Material:
A cluster of particles of one or more
compounding materials loosely held
together.
Agglomerates, Latex:
A cluster of rubber particles in a colloidal
aqueous suspension of such particles.
Aging, (Act of):
Exposure of materials to an environment for
an interval of time.

Accelerator, Delayed Action:

An accelerator that markedly increased
the time to incipient vulcanization of a
rubber mix without necessarily increasing
the vulcanization time.

Aging, (Rubber):
The irreversible change of material
properties during exposure to an
environment for an interval of time.

Activator:
Compounding material used in small
proportions to increase the effectiveness
of an accelerator.

Aging, Accelerated:
Exposure of a material to a test environment
intended to produce the effects of natural
aging in a shorter period of time.

Adhesion Failure:
A separation of two bonded surfaces at
an interface by the application of a force.

Aging, Air Oven:

The process of exposing materials to the
action of air at an elevated temperature at
atmospheric pressure.

Information presented herein is believed to be accurate and reliable but is not intended to meet any specification and does not imply any guarantee
or warranty by Brenntag Specialties, Inc. (BSI). For more information and assistance, contact Technical Services at 1-800-732-0562.

Brenntag Specialties, Inc. 1000 Coolidge St. South Plainfield, NJ 07080

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Glossaries
Aging, Natural:
Aging under normal service conditions.

Blow, Sponge Rubber:

The volume expansion that occurs during the formation
of sponge rubber.

Aging, Shelf:
Aging during storage.

Blowing Agent:
Compounding material used to produce gas by
chemical or thermal action, or both, in manufacture of
hollow or cellular articles.

Anticoagulant (Natural Rubber Latex):

A substance added to field latex to retard bacterial
action which would otherwise cause rapid coagulation
of the
latex.
Note: The word stabilizer is often used in place of
anticoagulant in latex terminology.

Bound Monomer:
Monomer that is combined or reacted with itself or
other types of monomers in a polymerization reaction
to form a polymer.
Note: This term is used in synthetic rubber production
and the bound monomer is normally expressed as a
percentage of total polymer.

Antidegradant:
A compounding material used to retard deterioration
caused by oxidation, ozone, light and combinations.
Note: Antidegradant is a generic term for such
additives as antioxidants, antiozonants and waxes.

Bumping, Molds:
The application, release and reapplication of pressure
prior to the start of vulcanization to vent entrapped
gases, thereby facilitating complete filling of the mold.

Antiflex Cracking Agent:

A compounding material used to retard cracking
caused by cyclic deformations.

Calender:
A machine with two or more rolls, operating at selected
surface speeds and controlled temperatures, for
sheeting, laminating, skim coating (topping) and friction
coating to a controlled thickness, surface characteristic
or both.

Antioxidant:
Compounding material used to retard deterioration
caused by oxidation.
Antiozonant:
Compounding material used to retard deterioration
caused by ozone.

Carcass:
The fabric, cord or metal reinforced section, or all three,
of a rubber product as distinguished from the rubber
tube, cover or tread.

Bale Coating:
A coating applied to surfaces of rubber bales which
inhibits adhesion to other surfaces.

Cell:
A single small cavity surrounded partially or completely
by walls.

Bank (Mill, Calender or Spreader):

A reservoir of material at the opening between rolls
(mill or calender) or at the spreader bar.

Cell, Open:
A cell not totally enclosed by its walls and hence
interconnecting with other cells.

Batch (Rubber Compound):

The product of one mixing operation.

Cellular Material:
A generic term for materials containing many cells
(either open, closed or both) dispersed throughout the
mass.

Blister:
A cavity or sac that deforms the surface of a material.
Bloom (Rubber):
A liquid or solid material that has migrated to the
surface of a rubber.
Note: The bloom changes the appearance of the
rubber.

Cement, Rubber:
An adhesive that is a dispersion or solution of raw or
compounded rubber, or both, in a suitable liquid.
Chalking, Rubber:
The formation of a powdery residue on the surface of a
rubber resulting from surface degradation.

Blow, Cellular Rubber:

The volume expansion that occurs during the
production of expanded or sponge rubber.

Closed Cell:
A cell totally enclosed by its walls and hence not

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Glossaries
interconnecting with other cells.

Conditioning (Environmental):
The storage of a specimen under specified conditions
such as temperature, humidity, etc., for a specified time
prior to testing.

Coagent:
A compounding ingredient used in small amounts to
increase the crosslinking efficiency of certain non-sulfur
vulcanizing systems or to modify the properties given
by such systems.
Note: The term is usually identified with additives used
to modify vulcanization by organic peroxides.

Conditioning (Mechanical):
The prescribed program of deformation of a specimen
prior to testing.
Conventional Sulfur Vulcanizing System:
As applied to natural rubber and isoprene and
butadiene based synthetic rubbers, a vulcanizing
system using a relatively high proportion of free sulfur
and producing at optimum cure a network in which the
combined sulfur exists predominantly in the polysulfidic
crosslinks and in non-crosslink chain modifications.
Note: The amount of free sulfur and the ratio of free
sulfur to accelerator will vary from rubber to rubber.

Coagulant Dipping (Latex):

Dipping process in which the product form is first
immersed in a coagulant solution, withdrawn, dried and
then immersed in the latex.
Coagulation (Rubber Latex):
Irreversible agglomeration of particles originally
dispersed in a rubber latex.
Coated Fabric:
A flexible product composed of a textile fabric and an
adherent polymeric material applied to one or both
surfaces.

Copolymer:
A polymer formed from two or more types of
monomers.
Cracks, Atmospheric:
Fissures originating in the surface of a rubber
vulcanizate, resulting from weathering.

Cohesive Failure (Bonded Assembly):

A rupture occurring entirely within any single uniform
layer of the assembly.

Cracks, Flex:
Fissures originating in the surface of a rubber
vulcanizate, resulting from cyclic deformation (usually
bending).

Cold Flow (Unvulcanized Rubber):

Slow deformation, under gravitational forces, at or
below room temperature.
Comonomer:
One of the two or more monomer species that
polymerize to form a copolymer.

Cracks, Ozone:
Fissures originating in the surface of a rubber
vulcanizate under strain, resulting from exposure to an
ozone-containing environment.
Note: These cracks are perpendicular to the direction
of strain.

Compound:
An intimate admixture of a polymer(s) with all the
materials necessary for the finished article.

Crazing:
Formation of a random pattern of shallow cracks on a
rubber surface usually due to aging by light.
Note: Unlike ozone cracking, crazing does not depend
of the presence of a tensile strain in the rubber.

Compound, Standard:
A control or reference compound prepared according
to a prescribed formula and mixing procedure.
Compounding Ingredient:
See compounding material, the preferred term.

Creaming, Latex:
A reversible process consisting of gathering, by
gravitational force, rubber particles surrounded by
serum, near the bottom or top of the latex.
Note: This generally accomplished by adding a
creaming agent.

Compounding Material:
A substance used as part of a rubber mix.
Compression Molding:
Molding process in which the material is placed directly
into the mold cavity and compressed to shape by
closure of the mold.

Creep:
The time-dependent part of a strain resulting from
stress.

Compression Set:
The residual deformation of a material after removal of
the compressive stress.

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Glossaries
of a continuum material.

Crosslink:
Chemical bond bridging one polymer chain to another.

Dumbbell Specimen (Rubber):

A flat specimen having a narrow straight central portion
of essentially uniform cross section with enlarged ends.

Crosslinking (The act of):

Formation of chemical bonds between polymer chains
to give a network structure.

Durometer:
An instrument for measuring the indentation hardness
of rubber.

Crystallization, Polymer:
Arrangement of previously disordered polymer
segments of repeating patterns into geometric
symmetry.

Dusting:
The application of a powder to a rubber surface,
generally to prevent adhesion to another surface.

Cure:
See vulcanization, which is the preferred term.

Efficient Vulcanizing (EV) Systems:

As applied to natural rubber, isoprene and butadiene
based synthetic rubbers, a vulcanizing system making
efficient use of sulfur and producing at optimum cure a
network containing a preponderance of thermally
stable monosulfidic crosslinks.
Note: EV Systems are comprised of a sulfur donor or a
combination of low concentration of free sulfur (< 0.5
phr, for example), or both at a comparatively high
concentration of accelerator (s).

Cure Meter:
A testing device that measures the progress of
vulcanization at a vulcanizing temperature.
Note: The measured property, normally proportional to
the complex dynamic modulus, is recorded at closely
space time intervals to produce quasi-continuous
measured property versus time curve.
Curing Agent:
Synonym for vulcanizing agent, which is the preferred
term.

Elastic Limit:
The greatest stress which a material is capable of
sustaining without any permanent strain remaining
upon complete release of the stress.

Delayed Action Accelerators:

An accelerator in conjunction with other curing agent
(s), produces at vulcanizing temperatures a period of
no significant crosslinking followed by a period of rapid
crosslink formation.

Elastomer:
A term often used for rubber and polymers that have
properties similar to those rubber.
Note: This term should not be used in standards for
rubber.

Density:
The mass per unit volume of a material.
Density, Bulk:
The mass per unit volume of a material, including any
voids present.

Elongation:
Extension produced by a tensile stress.
Elongation, Percent:
The extension of a uniform section of a specimen
expressed as percent of the original length.

Diene Polymer:
A polymer formed from one or more monomer species,
at least one of which is a diolefin.

Elongation, Ultimate:
The elongation at the time of rupture.

Dipping (Latex):
Process in which a layer of rubber is deposited on a
mold or form as a result of immersion in a bath of
compounded latex.

Emulsifying Agent (Latex):

A surface-active substance used to facilitate the
dispersion of an immiscible liquid compounding
material in another liquid and to stabilize the emulsion
thereby produced.

Dispersing Agent (Latex):

A surface-active substance used to facilitate the
suspension of solid compounding materials in a liquid
medium and to stabilize the dispersion thereby
produced.

Extender:
An organic material used to augment the polymer in a
compound.

Dispersion (The act of):

Application of shearing forces to distribute one or more
compounding materials uniformly throughout the mass

Extensometer:
A device for determining elongation of a specimen as it

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Glossaries
is strained.

Flocculation:
Formation (sometimes reversible) of loosely coherent,
partially agglomerated rubber, distributed in the liquid
phase of a latex.

Extrudate:
Product of the extrusion process.
Extruder:
Machine designed to force a rubber or rubber mix
through an orifice, which is often shaped to the
geometry of the desired product.

Formula:
A list of the materials and their amounts used in the
preparation of a compound.
Friction Coat, Calender:
A layer of rubber compound applied to a fabric by
shearing action so that it impregnates the fabric.

Fatigue Breakdown:
The deterioration of a test piece or product resulting
from cyclic deformation.
Note: The rate of deterioration may be influenced by
environmental factors for example, temperature,
oxygen, ozone and reactive liquids.

Friction Coating (The act of):

The process of applying a rubber coat (friction coat) on
a textile by shearing action so that it impregnates the
textile.

Fatigue, Dynamic:
The deterioration of a material by repeated
deformation.

Frosting:
Formation of a matte, bloom-like appearance on a
rubber surface exposed to air, resulting from the action
of ozone.

Fatigue Life (Dynamic):

The number of deformations required to produce a
specified state of fatigue breakdown in a test piece or
product that is deformed under a prescribed set of
conditions.

Grain:
The unidirectional orientation of rubber or filler particles
resulting in anisotrophy of a rubber compound.

Filler:
A solid compounding material, usually in finely divided
form, which may be added in relatively large
proportions to a polymer for technical or economic
reasons.

Gum Compound:
A rubber compound containing only those ingredients
necessary for vulcanization and small amounts of other
ingredients for processing, coloring and form improving
the resistance to aging

Filler, Inert:
A filler having no reinforcing effect.

Hardness:
The resistance to indentation s measured under
specified conditions.

Fissure:
A surface split or crack.

Heat Buildup:
The accumulation of thermal energy generated within a
material as a result of hysteresis, evidence by an
increase in temperature.

Flash:
The excess material protruding from the surface of a
molded article at the mold junctions.

Heat Sensitizer:
Gelling agent effective only at elevated temperature.

Flat Cure:
Synonym for plateau vulcanization.

Homopolymer:
A polymer formed from single monomer species.

Flex Life:
The number of cycles required to produce a specified
state of failure in a specimen that is flexed in a
prescribed method.

Hysteresis Loss:
The loss of mechanical energy due to hysteresis.
Hysteresis, Rubber and Rubber Like Materials:
The lagging of strain behind stress due to deformation.

Flexometer:
A machine that subjects a test piece to a cyclic
deformation which may be in compression, tension or
shear, or any combination thereof, including bending
motion.

Impact Resistance:
Resistance to fracture under shock force.
Inhibitor:
A material used to suppress a chemical reaction.

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Glossaries
compound, through the action of mechanical work
(shear).

Knuckles:
Pieces of raw rubber, of apparently greater viscosity
than the main part of the bale, that will not easily
disperse in the softer mixture in an internal mixture
and, therefore, do not readily accept carbon black or
other compounding
materials.

Mixer, Internal:
A machine with a closed cavity in which a specially
shaped rotor (or rotors) masticate the rubber or
incorporate and disperse compounding materials, or
both, into the rubber.

Latex, Creamed:
A latex, the rubber concentration of which has been
increased by creaming and removal of the separated
serum.

Molding, Compression:
The process of forming a material to a desired shape
by flow induced by a force applied after a material is
placed in the mold cavity.

Latex, Foam:
Cellular rubber made from a rubber latex.

Molding, Injection:
The process of forming a material by forcing it from an
external heated chamber through a sprue (runner,
gate) into the cavity of a closed mold by means of a
pressure gradient that is independent of the mold
clamping force.

Latex, Mechanical Stability of:

The ability of latex to resist coagulation under the
influence of mechanical agitation.
Latex, Rubber:
Colloidal aqueous dispersion of rubber.

Molding, Transfer:
The process of forming a material by forcing it from an
auxiliary heated chamber through a sprue (runner,
gate) into a cavity of a closed mold by means of a
pressure gradient that is dependent on the mold
clamping force.

Masterbatch:
A homogeneous mixture of rubber and one or more
materials in known proportions for use as a raw
material in the preparation of the final compounds.
Mastication:
A breakdown or softening of raw rubber, or a mix by
the combined action of mechanical work (shear) and
atmospheric oxygen, sometimes accelerated by the
use of a peptizer and frequently at elevated
temperatures.

Monomer:
A low molecular weight substance consisting of
molecules capable of reacting with like or unlike
molecules to form a polymer.
Nerve:
The elastic resistance of unvulcanized rubber or rubber
mixes to permanent deformation.

Maturation, Latex:
Controlled storage of a vulcanizable compounded latex
before processing and vulcanization in order to allow
escape of trapped air bubbles, optimize dispersion of
materials, and if required, allow partial prevulcanization
of rubber particles.

Nip:
The radial clearance between rolls of a mill or calender
on a line of centers.
Oligomer:
A polymer consisting of only a few monomer units such
as a dimer, trimer, tetramer, etc., or their mixes.

Mill:
A machine with two counter rotating rolls, usually
driven at different speeds, having adjustable
longitudinal axis separation from one another to alter
the nip, used for breakdown mastication, mixing or
sheeting.

Optimum Cure:
The state of vulcanization at which a desire property
value or combination of property values is obtained.
Overcure:
A state of vulcanization beyond the state of optimum
cure.
Note: Overcure is generally caused by too long a time
or too high a temperature of vulcanization or post
vulcan- ization, or both, or a surplus of vulcanizing
agents, or both.

Mix:
An adequate mixture of rubber in any form with other
material (s).
Mixer:
A machine, which incorporates and disperses
compounding ingredients into rubber to form a mix or a

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Glossaries
after the initial change.

Ozone Cracking:
Formation of fissures in the surface of rubber exposed
to ozone under tensile strain.

Polymer:
A substance consisting of molecules characterized by
the repetition (neglecting ends, branch junctions and
other minor irregularities) of one or more types of
monomeric units.

Peptizer (Dry Rubber):

A compounding material used in small proportions to
accelerate by chemical action the softening of rubber
under the influence of mechanical action, or heat, or
both.

Polymer Network:
A three dimensional reticulate structure formed by a
chemical or physical linking of polymer chains.

Permeability:
The permeation rate divided by the pressure gradient
of the gas or vapor. For a homogeneous material that
obeys Fick's Law, the permeability is equal to the
product of the diffusion coefficient and the solubility
coefficient of the gas or vapor.
Note 1: Pressure gradient is the pressure differential
divided by the distance between opposite faces of a
solid body.
Note 2: Homogeneous materials is a typical polymer
that may contain fillers or curatives, or both, uniformly
distributed throughout the mass.

Porosity:
The presence of numerous small cavities.
Post Cure:
Heat or radiation treatment, or both, to which a cured
or partially cure thermosetting plastic or rubber
composition is subjected to enhance the level of one or
more properties.
Powdered Rubber:
Particulate form of raw or unvulcanized compounded
rubber, usually consisting of particles no more than 5
mm in diameter and with or without a coating agent to
prevent agglomeration during production,
transportation and storage.

Permeance:
The permeation rate divided by the pressure differential
of a gas or vapor between opposite faces of a solids
body.
Note: Pressure differential is the difference in gas or
vapor pressure across opposite faces of a solid body.

Prevulcanization Inhibitor:
A compounding material, not an accelerator, that
increased the time to incipient vulcanization of a rubber
mix at processing temperatures without substantially
affecting the vulcanization rate at the vulcanization
temperature.
Note: A prevulcanization inhibitor differs from a
retarder in that it suppresses only those reactions
responsible for incipient vulcanization, whereas many
retarders suppress crosslinking reactions as a whole
and so reduce the cure rate.

Permeation Rate:
The flow rate of a gas or vapor, under specified
conditions, through a prescribed area of a solids body,
divided by that area.
Pigment:
An insoluble compounding material used to impart
color. Note: The use of pigment as a substitute for
compounding material is discouraged.

Primary Accelerator:
The principal highest concentration accelerator used in
a vulcanizing system.

Plasticity:
A characteristic of unvulcanized rubber indicated by the
degree of retention of deformation after removal of the
deforming force.

Processability:
The relative ease with which raw or compounded
rubber can be handled in rubber machinery.

Plasticizer:
A compounding material used to enhance the
deformability of a polymeric compound.

Processing Aid:
A compounding material that improves the
processability of a polymeric compound.
Note: Examples of improvements attributable to
processing aids include reduced nerve, better
dispersion of dry materials, increased extrusion rates,
reduced powder consumption during mixing, smoother
surfaces on calendered and extruded products and
improved knitting.

Plastometer:
An instrument for measuring the plasticity of a material.
Plateau, Vulcanization:
Vulcanization during which the value of a desired
property proceeds to a maximum or minimum and then
remains essentially constant for a substantial period

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Glossaries
Recipe:
A formula, mixing procedure and any other instructions
needed for the preparation of a product.

insoluble (but can swell) in boiling solvent, such as

benzene, methyl ethyl ketone or ethanoltoluene
azeotrope.

Recovery:
The degree to which a rubber product returns to its
normal dimensions after being distorted.

A rubber in its modified state, free of diluents, retracts

within one minute to less than 1.5 times its original
length after being stretched at room temperature (18 29 degrees C) to twice its length and held for one
minute before release.

Reinforcement:
The act of increasing the mechanical performance
capability of a rubber by the incorporation of materials
that do not participate significantly in the vulcanization
process.

Rubber, Natural:
A cis -1, 4-polyisoprene that is obtained from a
botanical source, usually Hevea Brasiliensis.
Rubber, Oil-Extended:
A grade of raw rubber containing a relatively high
proportion of processing oil.

Reinforcing Agent:
A material, not basically involved in the vulcanization
process, used in rubber to increase the resistance of
the vulcanizate to mechanical forces.

Rubber Products:
Items of commerce in which the major portion of the
filler bearing material is a rubber. Typical examples
are rubber bands, rubber balls, rubber tires, etc. The
rubber composition in the product as distinct from the
fabric or metal to which it may be attached must
possess the properties described under the definition
of rubber.

Release Agent (Mold):

A substance applied to the inside surfaces of a mold or
added to a material to be molded, to facilitate removal
of the product from the mold.
Resilience:
The ratio of energy output to energy input in a rapid (or
instantaneous) full recovery of a deformed specimen.

In some cases, where diluent loading is high (as in

flooring and shoe soles), where the product is hard
rubber, where it is in a solvent solution (as rubber
adhesives), where the product is unvulcanized (as
tread rubber), or where the product is cellular, the
prescribed test cannot be made because the rubber
has been modified to such an extent that it no longer
possesses elastomeric properties. The major
polymeric constituent must be identified by other
means, and if it is identified as one of the wellrecognized rubbers which without plasticizers or other
diluents would pass the prescribed test, the article is a
rubber product.

Resilience Impact:
The ratio of output to input mechanical energy in a
rapid deformation and recovery cycle of a rubber
specimen.
Resin:
A solid, semi-solid or pseudo-solid organic material
which has an indefinite and often high molecular
weight, exhibits a tendency to flow when subject to
stress, usually has a softening or melting range and
usually fractures conchoidally.
Resistivity, Volume:
The ratio of the electric potential gradient to the current
density when the gradient is parallel to the current in
the material.

Rubber, Raw:
Natural or synthetic rubber, usually in bales or
packages which is the starting material for the
manufacture of rubber articles.

Retarder:
A material used to reduce the tendency of a rubber
compound to vulcanize prematurely.

Rubber, Skim:
Rubber coagulated from the serum separated during
the concentration of natural rubber latex.

Reversion (Vulcanization):
Deterioration of vulcanizate properties which may
occur when vulcanization time is extended beyond the
optimum.

Rubber, Sponge:
Cellular rubber consisting predominately of open cells
and made from a dry rubber compound.
Rubber, Synthetic:
Rubber produced by polymerizing one or more
monomers with or without post-polymerization
chemical modification.

Rubber:
A material that is capable of recovering from large
deformations quickly and forcibly, and can be, or
already is, modified to a state in which it is essentially

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Glossaries
Sample:
The portion or unit (s) selected to represent the lot.

Stiffness, Bending:
The force required to produce a bent configuration
under specified conditions.

Scorch:
Premature vulcanization of a rubber compound.

Stock:
See compound, the preferred term.

Scorch, Mooney:
The time to incipient cure of a compound when tested
in the Mooney shearing disk viscometer under specific
conditions.

Storage Life, Shelf:

The period of time after production during which a
material or product that is stored under specified
conditions retains its intended performance capabilities.

Secondary Accelerator:
Accelerator used in smaller concentrations compared
to the primary accelerator, to achieve a faster rate of
vulcanization.

Strain:
The unit change, due to force, in the size or shape of a
body referred to its original size and shape.

Semi-Efficient Vulcanizing
(Semi-EV) System:
As applied to natural rubber and isoprene- and
butadiene-based synthetic rubbers, a vulcanizing
system having sulfur and accelerator concentrations
between those of a conventional sulfur vulcanizing
system and an EV system.

Stress:
The intensity, at a point in a body, of the internal forces
(or components of force) that act on a given plane
through the point.
Note: Stress is expressed in force per unit area. As
used in tension, compression or shear, stress is
calculated on the basis of the original dimensions of the
appropriate cross section of the test piece.

Skim Coating (The Act Of):

The process of applying a thin layer of rubber or rubber
mix to a sheet material by means of calender without
significant shear forces between the rubber and sheet.

Stress Relaxation:
The decrease in stress after a given time at constant
strain.

Skim Rubber:
Rubber obtained from the dilute latex that is separated
during the concentration of natural rubber latex.

Sulfur, Combined:
The sulfur remaining in a vulcanizate after extraction by
a prescribed method.
Note: The sulfur is bound to organic constituents
(organically combined sulfur, rubber vulcanized oil for
example) or to inorganic constituents (inorganically
combined sulfur, barium sulfate for example), or both.

Softener:
A compounding material used in small proportions to
soften the vulcanizate or to facilitate processing or
incorporation of filler.

Sulfur Donor Vulcanizing System:

A vulcanizing system in which there is not elemental
sulfur present and all of the sulfur available for the
crosslinking is provided by the partial decomposition of
the sulfur containing materials.

Specimen:
A piece of material appropriately shaped and prepared
so that it is ready to use for a test.
Stabilizer, (Rubber):
A substance present in or added to raw rubber to
maintain the properties at or near their initial values
during drying, processing and storage.

Sulfur, Extractable:
All the sulfur removed by a solvent from a rubber mix or
vulcanizate.

Stain, Migration:
The discoloration, caused by constituents from a
rubber, which occurs on any portion of the surface of
an object, in the proximity of or adjacent to but not in
direct contact with, the rubber causing stain.

Sulfur, Free:
Ideally, the uncombined sulfur in a rubber mix or
vulcanizate.
Note: Practically, the analysis for free sulfur determine
elemental sulfur, coordinately bound sulfur, and
organically bound reactive sulfur, such as that in
disulfide or polysulfide.

Stiffener:
A compounding material used to increase the viscosity
of an unvulcanized rubber mix.

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Glossaries
Sulfur, Total:
All the sulfur present in a material irrespective of its
chemical form or origin.

Ultra Accelerator:
Highly active accelerator for fast vulcanization and
often used for low-temperature vulcanization.

Swelling:
The increase in volume of a specimen immersed in a
liquid or exposed to a vapor.

Undercure:
A state of vulcanization between the onset of
vulcanization and the state of optimum cure.

Tack, Rubber:
The property that causes contacting surfaces of
unvulcanized rubber to adhere to each other.

UV Absorber:
A compounding material which, through its ability to
absorb ultraviolet radiation and render it harmless,
retards the deterioration caused by sunlight an other
UV light sources.

Tackifier:
A compounding material used to enhance the property
that causes contacting surfaces of unvulcanized rubber
to adhere to each other.

Viscoelasticity:
A combination of viscous and elastic properties in a
material with the relative contributions of each being
dependent on time, temperatures, stress and strain
rate.

Tear Strength:
The maximum force required to tear a specified
specimen, the force acting substantially parallel to the
major axis of the test specimen.

Viscosity:
The resistance of a material to flow under stress.

Tensile Set:
The extension remaining after a specimen has been
stretched and allowed to retract in a specified manner
expressed as a percentage of the original length.

Viscosity, Mooney:
A measure of the viscosity of a rubber or rubber
compound determined in a Mooney shearing disc
viscometer.

Tensile Strength:
The maximum tensile stress applied during stretching a
specimen to rupture.

Vulcanizate:
The product of vulcanization; a crosslinked rubber.

Tensile Stress:
A stress applied to stretch a test piece (specimen).

Vulcanization:
An irreversible process during which a rubber
compound through a change in its chemical structure
(crosslinking for example), becomes less plastic and
more resistant to swelling by organic liquids while
elastic properties are conferred, improved or extended
over a greater range of temperature.

Tensile Stress at Given Elongation:

The stress required to stretch the uniform cross section
of a test specimen to a given elongation.
Tension Fatigue:
Fracture, through crack growth, of a component or test
specimen subjected to a repeated tensile deformation.

Vulcanized Vegetable Oil:

A compounding material produced by heating
unsaturated vegetable oils with sulfur or sulfur chloride
and used as a processing aid or extender.

Tension Set:
The strain remaining after a test piece or product has
been stretched and allowed to retract.

Vulcanizing Agent:
Compounding material that produces crosslinking in
rubber.

Terpolymer:
A polymer formed from three monomer species.

Vulcanizing System:
The combination of vulcanizing agent and, as required,
accelerators, activators and retarders, used to produce
the desired vulcanization characteristics or vulcanizate
characteristics.

Thermal Degradation:
Degradation of properties due to increase in
temperature resulting from external application or
internal generation of heat.
Thickener (Latex):
A substance used to raise or control the viscosity of
latex with out the necessity for major changes in the
total solids content.

Weathering:
The surface deterioration of a rubber article during
outdoor exposure.

MINERALS COLORS CHEMICALS ADDITIVES RESINS EQUIPMENT

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Glossaries
Note: Examples are checking, cracking and crazing.

Chromium Oxide Greens - (Technical)

-US Govt Defense Contract Work

Wetting Agent (Latex):

A substance used to reduce the surface tension of
latex and thereby facilitate spreading or impregnation
of a surface by the latex.

Iron Oxide Pigments - (Technical)

-Wide Range of Inorganic Colors
Manganese Violet Pigments
-Coloration and Color Identification

BSIS ASSORTMENT OF PRODUCTS

FOR THE RUBBER MARKET

Organic Pigment Colors - (Blue, Green,

Red, Yellow)

MINERALS:
Titanium Dioxides - (Technical)
-White Pigment

Barytes - (Barium Sulfates)

-Dense Elastomeric Products
-Soundproofing

Ultramarine Pigments - (Blue, Violet, Pink)

-Coloration
-Color Identification

Calcium Carbonates
-Low Cost Fillers
-Increased Rigidity and
-Thermal Stability

CHEMICALS:
Barium Sulfate - Precipitated
-Weather / Chemical Resistance
-Low Abrasion
-Good Rheological Properties

Calcium Hydroxides
-Speeds up Vulcanization

Calcium Oxides
-Dehydrating Agents
-Aid Vulcanization

Hydrated Aluminas
-Fire Retardants
-Smoke Suppressants
-Titanium Dioxide Extenders

Clays
-Surface Modification
-Aid Dispersion and Extrusion
-Increased Physicals

Magnesium Oxides / Hydroxides

-Halogenated Elastomers
-Stabilizing Acid Acceptors
-Vulcanizers
Stearates
-Non-Stick Agents
-Acid Scavengers
-Anti-Block Agents

Magnesium Aluminum Silicates

-Thickening Agents
-Viscosity Stabilizers
Micas
-Dusting Agent

Waxes
-Smooth Glossy Finishes
-Water Resistance
-Anti-Weather Agents
-Anti-Oxidant Agents

Talcs - (Magnesium Silicates)

-Low Cost Fillers
-Enhanced Thermal Properties
-Improved Dimensional Strength
-Dusting Agent

Zinc Sulfide
-Minimal Abrasion on equipment
and Selective Fillers
-Reduced Polymer Oxidation
-High Heat Transfer Coefficient
-Titanium Dioxide Replacement
-Flame Retardant

COLORS:
Cadmium Pigments - (Yellow, Orange,
Maroon, Red)
-Coloration and Color Identification

MINERALS COLORS CHEMICALS ADDITIVES RESINS EQUIPMENT

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Glossaries
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SOUTHEAST:

WEB PAGE ADDRESS:

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800-833-8142 (Phone)
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www.brenntagspecialties.com

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800-833-8140 (Phone)
800-833-8141 (Fax)

MINERALS COLORS CHEMICALS ADDITIVES RESINS EQUIPMENT

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