A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected]

NuSil Technology L.L.C. has launched a series of informative films designed to provide information on the key physical properties of silicone: www.nusil.com/films.

The series has been created in a relatable way, NuSil said, hoping to make these physical properties easy to understand and the process of testing a little clearer.

The films are for anyone, the company added, from a novice in the industry to an expert in the field. The company claims they are intended to impart the unlimited range of possibilities available when the chemistry is in the right hands.

Visitors interested in a particular physical property or test method, may use the following links:

• www.nusil.com/viscosity

• www.nusil.com/extrusionrate

• www.nusil.com/durometer

• www.nusil.com/tensile-tear-elongation

• www.nusil.com/modulus

For more information on finding the right silicones for specific applications, visit www.nusil.com/en/contact.

Teknor Apex Co. has expanded options for molders of parts by offering styrenic thermoplastic elastomers in its Sarlink Range, alongside Sarlink TPVs.

Teknor Apex recommends these TPEs for such automotive interior applications as bin mats, cup holder liners and soft-touch grips for knobs and buttons. The company reported the styrenic TPEs are already in commercial use in applications for Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.

These TPEs are UV-stable, resist abrasion and scratching, are easily colored, provide good surface appearance and tactile properties and exhibit low fogging and odor, the company said. Additionally, Teknor Apex said unlike many TPVs, they do not require pre-drying prior to molding.

According to Teknor Apex, the new series are:

• Sarlink ML-1100: These are general-purpose grades that provide the best balance of cost and performance and are recommended for cost-sensitive applications. They are denser than comparable TPVs, with a specific gravity of 1.19. Compounds are available with hardnesses from 30 Shore A to 40 Shore D.

• Sarlink ML-1600: With a specific gravity of 1.0, these grades are more similar to TPVs in terms of density and properties but offer a better cost/performance balance. With apparent shear viscosity values lower than those of Sarlink ML-1100 compounds, they exhibit even better flow properties. Compounds are available with hardnesses from 40 to 90 Shore A.

The company said Sarlink ML-1100 and ML-1600 Series compounds are available worldwide in both black and natural formulations.

For more information, go here.

TA Instruments, a subsidiary of Waters Corp., has introduced a system for characterization of magneto-rheological fluids: the Magneto-Rheology accessory for the Discovery Hybrid Rheometer, which enables parallel plate and cone-plate rheological measurements under the influence of a controlled field at temperatures as high as 170°C and fields as high as 1 Tesla.

MR fluids are one class of “smart fluids,” TA Instruments said. Those fluids that can have their flow properties change greatly and reversibly by the application of an external stimulus, such as a magnetic field, according to the company. These materials can be used in fields such as advanced automotive bearings and suspensions, tunable polishing slurries and ballistic defense.

The MR Accessory from TA Instruments can be used in conjunction with a Discovery Hybrid Rheometer, the company said, for complete rheological characterization of these materials under controlled temperature, deformation and magnetic field up to 1 Tesla. TA Instruments said this will provide a substantial benefit to scientists developing and optimizing MR fluids and the devices that use them.

For more information, click here.