Only vulcanized-rubber items which are extruded or moulded in their final shape are covered in this section. For some other rubber-compound
applications where there is either no cure or a cure-in-place application (like RTV rubbers).
There are many applications throughout a vehicle for rubber compounds, e.g. mechanical damping systems, seals and gaskets, electrical insulation, membranes, and bladders for fluids.
Commercial "rubbers" contain not only one or more rubber polymers, but many, for example, additives, fillers andpigments. Themost useful for space applications are based on polybutadiene, polychloroprene,
polyurethanes, acrylics, nitrile, ethylene-propylenes, silicones and fluorinated polymers. They appear, for example, as moulded parts, films, coated textiles, extruded insulation, sleeves and shrinkable items. It is practically impossible to obtain details from the manufacturers of the formulations they sell. For critical applications it is sometimes better to use a special formulation tailored to the use with the help of a local compounder. |
