Blog

2018

Application of rubber in life

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(I) Rubber and Automobiles

Rubber is widely used in automobile production, such as tires, hoses, tapes, oil seals, wipers, sealing strips, brake pads, etc. The rubber industry has developed along with the automobile industry. In the 1960s, the rapid development of the automobile industry and the petrochemical industry greatly improved the production level of the rubber industry; in the 1970s, in order to meet the needs of high speed, safety and energy conservation, pollution elimination and public hazards prevention, new tire varieties were continuously introduced. Raw rubber consumption accounts for a considerable proportion in transportation. For example: a 4-ton Jiefang brand truck requires more than 200 kilograms of rubber products, a hard seat carriage needs to be equipped with more than 300 kilograms of rubber products, a 10,000-ton ship needs nearly 10 tons of rubber products, and a jet airliner needs nearly 600 kilograms of rubber. In sea, land and air transportation, rubber products are indispensable. As a means of transportation, tires are a major accessory. In recent years, in addition to the production of ordinary tires, radial tires and tubeless tires have also been vigorously developed. Some subways have also adopted rubber tires. Railway vehicles and automobiles promote the use of rubber spring expansion products, airtight rubber release. Large stores, stations, and subways are also using manned conveyor belts. In addition, there are "air cushion boats" and "air cushion cars" made of rubber.

(II) Rubber and industrial mines

The industrial sector needs more rubber products of all sizes, with many varieties and wide uses, and some have special requirements. The main products are tapes, hoses, sealing gaskets, rubber rollers, rubber sheets, rubber linings and labor protection supplies. In mining, coal, metallurgy and other industries, the use of tapes to transport finished products is constantly appearing in various places. In order to meet the needs of large-scale production, steel wire rope core conveyor belts and synthetic fiber conveyor belts are also produced. In recent years, the rubber lining of mining mills has replaced manganese steel with forged rubber, which has increased its service life by two to four times and reduced noise. This product has been promoted worldwide.

(III) Rubber and Agriculture, Forestry and Water Conservancy

The development of agriculture, forestry and water conservancy has also led to the development of various rubber products. In addition to various tires for tractors and agricultural machinery, the rubber tracks used in combine harvesters, rubber anti-seepage layers and rubber dams used in irrigation pools, water wells and reservoirs, rubber boats, life-saving supplies, etc. are all increasing. There are rubber accessories in agricultural and sideline product processing equipment and forestry, animal husbandry and fishery technical equipment. For example, a Tieniu-40 wheeled tractor requires as many as 121 rubber products. With the great development of agricultural mechanization and farmland water conservancy, the demand for rubber products will increase.

(IV) Rubber and Military Defense

Rubber is an important strategic material and is widely used in military defense. For example, a tank uses more than 800 kilograms of rubber; a general 30,000-ton warship uses 68 tons of rubber. Almost all military equipment, air force facilities, and defense projects have rubber footprints. There are also many varieties of ships, tents, warehouses, protective equipment, and bathing suits made of rubber. As for the rubber products with special properties such as high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance, oil resistance, and high vacuum resistance required by the cutting-edge technology of enclosure defense, they are even more indispensable. With the development of national defense modernization, rubber with special properties such as being able to withstand a temperature range of -100 to 400℃ and being able to resist various acids and alkalis is being developed and produced.

(V) Rubber and Civil Engineering

In modern buildings, rubber is even more useful. For example, glass window sealing rubber strips, sound insulation floors, rubber sponges, rubber carpets, rainproof materials, and walls painted with emulsion paint are used in buildings. Since the mid-1960s, large rubber spring cushions have been installed in buildings to reduce the vibration and noise caused by subways. Foreign countries are also trial-producing rubber cushions that reduce the damage caused by earthquakes to buildings. The development of such rubber products is of great significance. Inflatable rubber soft rubber latex cement and rubber latex used in the manufacture of concrete hollow components are increasingly widely used in construction projects. Mixing latex into cement can improve the elasticity and wear resistance of cement. Adding 3% rubber or latex to asphalt for paving roads can prevent cracking of the road surface and improve impact resistance. Machinery, transportation equipment, protective equipment, etc. used in construction have rubber accessories.

(VI) Rubber and electrical communications

Another characteristic of rubber is that it has good insulation performance and is not easy to conduct electricity. Various wires are mostly made of rubber. Hard rubber is also used to make rubber hoses, rubber sticks, rubber sheets, partitions and battery shells. In addition, it is also widely used as protective equipment such as insulating gloves, insulating rubber boots and shoes.

(VII) Rubber and medical and health care

There are many rubber products in use in the medical and health care sector, such as the various rubber-colored surgical gloves, ice bags, sponge cushions, etc. used for diagnosis, blood transfusion, catheterization, and gastrointestinal lavage in the anesthesiology, urology, surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, pentagonal surgery, and radiology departments of hospitals. Most of them are rubber products. There are also rubber products as accessories for medical equipment and instruments. Medical rubber products often have special requirements for them, such as non-toxicity, sterilization, physiological inertness, and radiation resistance. The butyl rubber of the rubber towel has high biological inertness, chemical stability and slight water permeability. It is used to process rubber bottle stoppers to ensure the preservation of highly hygroscopic anti-cancer and anti-cancer preparations. In recent years, silicone rubber has been increasingly used in the manufacture of medical products. For example, great progress has been made in the use of silicone rubber to manufacture artificial organs and human tissue substitutes. It is also used to make drug capsules, which are placed in appropriate positions in the body to release the drugs in the capsule slowly and continuously, which can improve the efficacy and be relatively safe.

(VIII) Rubber and Culture, Education and Sports

Common various ball bladders, sponge rubber surfaces of table tennis rackets, swimming feet, toy leather balls, gold pen bladders, erasers, rubber traps, rubber lines, rubber prints, rubber cloths, balloons and sponge rubber pads are widely used in cultural and educational institutions, offices, design and drawing, and sports equipment.

(IX) Rubber and Daily necessities

There are many rubber products serving us in daily life, which are worn by urban and rural residents. It is a kind of necessary rubber product with a large consumption. Other products such as raincoats, hot water spray, pine purple belts, children's toys, sponge cushions and latex impregnated products are playing their role in people's lives.

Now, China's rubber processing industry is in a period of vigorous development. The rubber industry in various places has not only accelerated the progress of China's industry, but also driven the good situation of economic construction and development in various places.