ABRASION RESISTANCE

The resistance of a rubber manufacture to abrasion is measured as the percentage loss of weight, compared to the original material’s weight. Whereas the cutting or nicking of a manufacture’s surface is an instantaneous event, abrasive rubbing or scraping is much more of a progressive phenomenon, that develops over time. Generally rubber items in motion are most susceptible to abrasion, than static ones. Hard compounds tend to exhibit less abrasive wear than soft compounds, but to use a hard compound can also increase friction in dynamic sealing systems, generating degradation by heat. Due to many potential variables (including heat fluctuation and surface contamination), the abrasion resistance is hard to measure accurately. To test it, it typically involves the uniform application of an abrasive material (such as glass paper) to the surface of a sample. The relative amount of the sample material, that is lost due to abrasion, is a good indicator of abrasion resistance. Generally speaking, hydrocarbon-based elastomers tend to offer better abrasion resistance than fluorocarbon elastomers. Polyurethane offers the most outstanding abrasion resistance, while carboxylate nitrile and hydrogenated nitrile offer abrasion resistance, that is superior to other hydrocarbon-based elastomers.