Selecting RPA test conditions for rubber testing

In the last two decades, the rubber process analyzer has been used increasingly to predict changes in a tires compound's processing and/or product performance by measuring viscoelastic properties at preselected conditions of temperature, frequency and strain. Over time, it has been discovered that the selection of specific RPA test conditions will result in better statistical test sensitivity to subtle differences in factory processing and rubber product performance. This paper discusses the effects of variation in temperature, frequency and strain on test discernability.