What is Natural Rubber

What is Natural Rubber?

Crude natural rubber is found in the juices of many plants (shrubs, vines, and trees), the principal of which is the Hevea Brasiliensis tree, native to Brazil. After the latex is processed, natural rubber becomes an elastomer with excellent mechanical properties.

Natural Rubber has a typical service temperature range between –67° F and +180° F.

ADVANTAGES:

Natural rubber has excellent tensile, elongation, tear resistance, resilience, and electrical insulation. Natural rubber’s high resilience is only outperformed by some of the more recent manmade polyisoprenes and polybutadienes. Natural rubber exhibits excellent resistance to water and cold flow. Natural rubber has low compression set and can be bonded to a wide range of materials. It also has good flexing qualities at low temperatures that are better than most synthetics, but it is not as good as silicone or some of the special butadiene and SBR compounds. Natural rubber has superb abrasion resistance when it is compounded with carbon black.

LIMITATIONS:

Natural rubber deteriorates when exposed to oils, fuels, solvents, petroleum derivatives, and hydraulic fluids. Without special additives, natural rubber has poor resistance to sunlight, oxygen, ozone, and high temperatures.

COMMON APPLICATIONS:

Natural rubber can be easily bonded to a wide variety of materials, including fabric and metal. Natural rubber is widely used where many types of acids and bases, except those types that are highly oxidizing, are present. Common applications include tires, tubing, gaskets, belts, hoses, seals, shock mounts, rolls, vibration isolators, electrical components, bumpers, and drive wheels.