Ben Chouchaoui, ME, BSc, MASc, PhD Operations Manager Windsor Industrial Development Laboratory Rubbers are elastomers, thermosets, characterized by large deformability and the capability to recover their shapes upon removals of applied loads. Industrial rubbers divide into natural rubber (NR) and synthetic rubbers. The former derives from natural rubber latex, mainly...

Chemical devulcanization, applied since the 1960s, is nowadays among the most diffused. It employs various organic and inorganic chemical compounds that selectively break carbon- sulfur and/or sulfur-sulfur bonds. Generally, a supply of thermal and mechanical energy accelerates the treatment. Most chemical devulcanization methods are batch processes, in which ground waste...

Devulcanization aims at selectively cleavage the intermolecular sulfidic such as carbon- sulfur (C-S) and/or sulfur-sulfur (S-S) bonds, breaking down the tridimensional network without involving main chain scissions and degradation of the polymer....

The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16% such as in France up to 40% in countries such as Slovakia)....

Some of the discretization methods being used in Computational Fluid Mechanics (CFD) are: Finite volume method: The finite volume method (FVM) is a common approach used in CFD codes, as it has an advantage in memory usage and solution speed, especially for large problems, high Reynolds number turbulent flows, and...

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the massive calculations required to simulate the free- stream flow of the fluid, and the interaction of the fluid...

The economy comprises many different types of industries that produce goods or provide services. The essence of the industry encompasses 1. Business, 2. Cottage Industry, 3. Heavy industry, 4. Light industry, and 5. Manufacturing....

When it comes to producing end-use parts and products, one material stands out the most: Plastic. There are thousands of polymer options, each with specific mechanical properties. They make almost everything and there is a variety of plastic manufacturing processes that convert plastics into products. But manufacturing options can be...

Traditionally, one of the biggest issues facing the automotive and transportation ecosystem has been what to do with scrap tires. When they are no longer suitable for use on vehicles because of wear or irreparable damage, used tires can become a huge health and environmental problem....

Traditionally, one of the biggest issues facing the automotive and transportation ecosystem has been what to do with scrap tires. When they are no longer suitable for use on vehicles because of wear or irreparable damage, used tires can become a huge health and environmental problem....

The benefit of similar practices for recycling scrap tires in different regions of the world is uniformity and a standard of quality for the end products. If the various components of tires (steel, nylon, and rubber mix (natural and synthetic rubber and silica)) can be recovered, then the quality of...

The mechanics of finite element analysis (FEA) regarding elastomers (or rubberlike materials) and foams apply to the FEA of glass, plastics, and biomaterials as well. The concepts are not only valuable to practitioners in the rubber and tire industries but also to those involved in:...

Process simulation uses models that introduce approximations and assumptions but allow the description of a property over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, which might be non-covered by available real data. Models also allow interpolation and extrapolation - within certain limits - and enable the search for conditions outside...

Recycling is the process of converting post-industrial and post-consumer wastes into new materials and objects. Still, this concept is often coined to the recovery of energy from wastes (sadly, as a fraction only of the energy in remaking the wasted material or product). The recyclability of a material depends on...

On January 28, 1986, at 5:39 p.m., 73 seconds after takeoff within NASA’s STS-51-L mission and at a height of 14.6 kilometers, the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated in mid- air and its seven crewmembers, among the cream of the crop scientists in the country, died, giving rise to one of...

Simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in which simulations require the use of models; the model represents...

For most products, tooling is expensive and requires considerable lead time. Simulating its performance before cutting steel saves considerable time and expenditures that otherwise fall under adjustments....

Finite Element Analysis or FEA is a numerical technology that when applied to developing a rubber or plastic product allows to virtually simulate its performance prior to tooling and testing....

Every car scraps a tire a year on average. Strategies to cater to such a huge and growing waste stream consisting of incineration, crumb rubber generation, and landfilling, are not effective....

There are differences between design for cost and design to cost. Design for cost consists of optimizing a product for the least amount of material, highest performance, and recycling after usage....

Injection molding is the fastest process to make polymeric products. The material is continuously fed as pellets or rolls into an extruding barrel before feeding single or multi-cavity molds....

Trial-and-error presents many disadvantages. The alternative is material characterization and product simulations based on Finite Element Analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (FEA and CFD)....

No company can do everything alone. The alternative is out-sourcing. This encompasses material developments and supplies, research and development, testing, and many non-core activities....

Every manufacturing company inherently generates (post-industrial) scrap, in terms of flash, runners, material not to spec, test parts, etc. Such scrap could be processed, so that to be put back in production....