Lusida Rubber Products offers a wide selection of rubber products made from high-quality materials. We supply the best rubber products to the automotive, transportation, medical, chemical processing, electronics, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries to name a few. Our offerings include conveyor belts, fiber-reinforced diaphragms, O-rings, gaskets, seals, rubber sheets, silicone hoses, and more. We also offer metal fabrication and rubber to metal bonding products. With our well-trained employees and state-of-the-art facilities, we can provide our customers with top-quality products on time and at fair prices.
What is Rubber Extrusion?
Extruded Sponge Rubber
Rubber extrusion is a forming process where synthetic or natural rubber materials are shaped by forcing them through a die at a high temperature and pressure. It is carried out using a screw extruding machine, which consists of a heated shearing screw conveyor and a die. The shearing screw conveyor pushes the rubber material onto the die while it is being heated and pressurized. The die is located on the other end and serves as a shaping tool for the plasticized rubber.
Upon exiting the die, the extruded rubber typically undergoes post-processing to improve mechanical properties and for finishing. Vulcanization is a method wherein the rubber is heated with sulfur, accelerator, and activator at 140°C – 160°C. A vulcanized rubber exhibits increased elasticity, weather resistance, tensile strength, and hardness. Other post-processing methods include cutting, drilling, coiling, splicing, and taping.
What are the Materials Used in Rubber Extrusion?
Rubber extrusion starts with the selection of material. This, later on, serves as the basis of the die that will be used. The selection of rubber materials to be extruded depends on the application requirements specified by the customer. Lusida Rubber Products can produce custom rubber products using any of the following materials:
- Chloroprene
- Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (SBR)
- Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber (NBR)
- Natural rubber
- Butyl
- Viton
- Nitrile
- Neoprene
- Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM)
- Silicone
- Fluorocarbons
What Makes Rubber Extrusion Advantageous? 
Silicone Heater Hoses
Rubber extrusion is the preferred rubber processing method of most manufacturers because it yields products with excellent strength, uniformity, flexibility, impermeability, and surface finish. Here are more reasons why rubber extrusion is favored over rubber molding processes:
Versatile
Rubber extrusion can make very complex cross-sections. A die can be made into any shape and size depending on the requirements of the application. It can also create products in continuous or set lengths. On the other hand, rubber molding can only produce a limited size of products as restricted by the size of the manufacturing press used. Tubings, connectors, mandrel-formed hoses, vibration reducers, pressure switch square tubing, gaskets, and seals for doors, cabinets, and windows are some of the rubber extrusion products.
Economical
Rubber extrusion is a cost-effective process because its production cost is way lower than other rubber processing methods. Additionally, the extruding machine is relatively inexpensive when compared to molding tools used in rubber molding processes. The waste produced during rubber extrusion operations is also minimal, thus allowing high raw material conversion.
Efficient
Rubber extrusion is a highly efficient and repeatable process. It is highly suitable for the large-scale production of rubber products. It is the most effective way of producing consistent and various lengths of profiled rubber. As a continuous process, it can create huge quantities of rubber products in shorter periods.
While material hardness is a limiting factor for extrusion, there is a wide variety of materials that can be used. Rubber extrusion offers high accuracy, reliability, and consistency for the production of materials it can be applied to. In addition, it allows color matching of materials if aesthetic surface finish is a major factor.
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