Rubber Rheology, Cure & Process Testing Equipment

  1. Home
  2. Rubber Testing Equipment
  3. Rubber Rheology, Cure & Process Testing Equipment
Rubber Rheology, Cure & Process Testing Equipment
Request Quote Get Catalogue

How a compound flows in the mill and how fast it cures in the mold decide whether a batch can be released, long before a finished part can be tested. NextGen supplies rheometers and viscometers for unvulcanized and compounded rubber, working to ASTM D5289 and ISO 6502 for cure curves and ASTM D1646 for Mooney viscosity.

The range covers a rotorless moving die rheometer and an oscillating disc rheometer that record torque through the cure, a process analyzer that adds dynamic properties such as modulus and tan δ, and a Mooney viscometer for viscosity, scorch and stress relaxation. Instruments are installed and calibrated on site, your team is trained on test methods and data, and support continues for the life of the instrument.

Read More...

What Rheology and Cure Tests Measure

Rheometers and viscometers test rubber before it is vulcanized. A cure meter holds a specimen in a heated cavity, oscillates a die or disc and records the torque needed as the compound cures. The torque follows the stiffness or shear modulus of the rubber, so the curve rises as the compound vulcanizes. A Mooney viscometer records the torque needed to turn a rotor embedded in uncured rubber, which shows how the compound will process.

The cure curve gives minimum torque ML, which describes the uncured compound, maximum torque MH, which describes the cured one, and Ts times at which torque has risen a set share of the way from ML to MH. Ts90 reflects optimum vulcanization. The Mooney test adds scorch behavior and stress relaxation, which show whether a compound starts to cure early in processing and how it relaxes once the rotor stops.

Standards for Cure and Viscosity Testing

ASTM D5289 covers rotorless cure meters of sealed and unsealed design, ASTM D2084 covers the oscillating disk cure meter, and DIN 53529 is the German vulcameter series. ISO 6502 is a guide to curemeter use, and NextGen's standard page notes that its 2016 edition is marked withdrawn with ISO 6502-1 as the newer version. ASTM D1646 covers Mooney viscosity, stress relaxation and pre-vulcanization, and ISO 289-1 covers Mooney viscosity of unvulcanized rubber.

What Affects Cure and Viscosity Results

Cure curves depend on test temperature, instrument condition and how the specimen is prepared and loaded. Sealed and unsealed rotorless meters may not give the same results, so the meter design belongs in the specification when numbers are compared between plants. Mooney viscosity is sensitive to temperature control, to the history of the specimen, such as storage and earlier shear, and to the condition of the instrument.

Rheology and Cure Testing Equipment from NextGen

The moving die rheometer is a rotorless cure meter to ASTM D5289, ISO 6502 and DIN 53529 with a torque range up to 20 N·m, temperature accuracy within ±0.3 °C and strain adjustable from 0.01° to 5.0°. The oscillating disc rheometer reads the same cure values to ASTM D2084 and ASTM D5289. The RPA Ultra adds dynamic properties with frequencies from 0.001 to 100 Hz and temperatures up to 235 °C, and the GenMooney runs Mooney viscosity, early vulcanization and stress relaxation on one machine.

For Laboratories

One partner to equip your complete rubber laboratory

Cure and process testing is one station of an elastomer laboratory. NextGen equips the rest of it too, from tensile frames to hardness, abrasion, aging and specimen preparation, and stays responsible for it after delivery.

  • Equipment, fixtures and software
  • Installation, training, calibration
  • Lifetime technical support

Build My Rubber Lab

Products

4 products
Most requested Moving Die Rheometer Rheological testing Moving Die Rheometer The Moving Die Rheometer is a rotorless rubber rheometer for assessing curing and processing characteristics of… View product Get quote Most requested Oscillating Disc Rheometer Rheological testing Oscillating Disc Rheometer NG-ODR is an oscillating disc rheometer for measuring curing and processing characteristics of rubber compounds. View product Get quote Most requested RPA Ultra – Rubber Process Analyzer 250 dNm Rheological testing RPA Ultra – Rubber Process Analyzer RPA Ultra is an advanced rubber process analyzer rheometer for measuring dynamic and static properties of raw rubber… View product Get quote GenMooney – Mooney Viscosity Testing Machine 200 °C Mooney viscosity testing GenMooney – Mooney Viscosity Testing Machine GenMooney is a Mooney viscosity testing machine for measuring viscosity, scorch behavior, and stress relaxation in… View product Get quote

Nothing matches that filter. Show all products

FAQs

ASTM D5289 covers rotorless cure meters such as the moving die rheometer, while ASTM D2084 covers the oscillating disk cure meter, and D5289 names D2084 as an alternative method. Because the two instrument types may not give the same numbers, use the one your specification names. ISO 6502 is a guide, and its 2016 edition is marked withdrawn, so confirm which edition your customer cites. Contact our team if the callout is unclear.

ML is the minimum torque in dNm and describes the viscosity of the unvulcanized sample. MH is the maximum torque and describes the shear modulus, or rigidity, of the fully vulcanized sample. The Ts values are times at which torque has risen a set share of the way from ML to MH, for example Ts10, Ts30, Ts60 and Ts90, and Ts90 reflects optimum vulcanization.

Choose the RPA Ultra when you need more than a cure curve. Its rotating lower die gives unlimited oscillation strain, so it runs steady shear viscosity, wall slip tests with a polished die, strain sweeps such as the Payne test for filler dispersion, frequency sweeps and cure kinetics. Shear rates up to 500 1/s can imitate extrusion.

The MDR and ODR software keeps curves, drawings and results in a database for printing at any time, exports results to Excel and offers statistics, deviation setting, standard curve setting and CPK calculations. The interface zooms into a curve and compares curves, any vulcanization time or range can be selected, and earlier test data can be reanalyzed with modified reports.

The MDR and ODR need 65 psi (4.6 bar) of compressed air, not including the compressor, and a 110 V/60 Hz or 220 V/50 Hz supply at 1000 W. The MDR weighs 498 lbs (226 kg), and the GenMooney weighs 770 lbs (350 kg) on the same air supply. The RPA Ultra needs 400 V/16 A and a minimum of 4.5 bar of pneumatics.