Automating the assessment of dispersion of carbon in rubber using E-reference material and standard procedures

Certain physical properties of rubber such as, tensile strength, hysteresis, and abrasion resistance are influenced by dispersion of carbon black in it. Therefore, rubber quality is judged by the degree of carbon black dispersion. For this purpose, an instrument for manual and automatic grading of rubber is developed. It is based, primarily on two international standards: ISO 11345:1997(E) and ASTM-D-2663-95a. Both the standards describe procedures for gradation of rubber by qualitative and quantitative methods. This paper emphasises on the use of electronic form of reference materials and the standard procedures to develop the instrument. This equipment will be of use to rubber products (tyre, belts, etc.) manufacturers who need to compound carbon black into rubber to make their finished products and need to grade them as per the ISO/ASTM standards.