Important Steps You Need to Know About Rubber Part Qualification

The quality of a rubber product is highly crucial to manufacturers. It can easily influence their reputation, profitability, customer base and even their standing in the competitive business. Rubber products are used in a multitude of different applications and their quality can affect their operation positively or negatively.

To maintain a high standard quality production, rubber part qualification tests should be a part of the production process itself. Quality control testing needs to start from selecting the raw materials to producing finished goods.

 The four important rubber part qualification steps to be followed by manufacturers are:

• Quality Checklist

To ensure that no defective piece leaves the production facility, it is essential to have a quality checklist in place. It helps in tracking the product at every step of the design and manufacturing process. It makes sure no part of the product misses any test and upholds the standard quality.

• Gravity Test

Different types of rubbers have their specific gravities. However, as most rubbers are black in color, recognizing its kind by looking at it is difficult. Engineers decipher the kind of rubber and hence their correct application through their gravity values.

This gravity test is crucial as its results can influence the rubber’s price and shipping cost.  The test compares the weight of the rubber underwater to its weight in a dry state. The gravity is calculated through high precision analytical balance per ASTM.

• Tensile Test

The tensile test is used to determine a rubber’s behavior under pressure. It dictates the rubber’s elongation and tension measurement. Its results reveal the material’s seal performance quality. The tensile test is of high importance during the designing of a product as it helps in picking the right material.

• Visual & Automated Test

Finished rubber products undergo a final visual and automated test that approves or disapproves them as the standard quality final product.

The visual test looks for surface defects like non-fills, knit lines or foreign materials. The automated test is done by the Micro-Vu machine. It measures the product according to the needed specific dimensions. 

Having a part qualification testing system in place decreases the possibility of customers receiving low-quality or defected products. It is an essential part of the production process that can hamper the manufacturer-customer relationship.