Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Shore Hardness?
Something you will see us talk about on a lot of our products is the shore hardness value of the material. Different hardness values are more suitable for certain products than others and understanding this can help ensure you get the perfect product for your needs. This post is going to talk you through the way people calculate shore hardness and how this separates products.
Different Hardness Types
The first thing you will probably notice is that the hardness is split into different types. There are 12 different hardness types in total with each type having it’s own scale from 0 – 100. This essentially means that a full hardness scale can have 1200 different values. However, it is important to note that a lot of the hardness types aren’t commonly used in rubber products. The main shore hardness types we use in our products are Shore (A), Shore (D) and Shore (00).
Shore (00): Comprised predominantly of soft materials, highly flexible materials such as sponge.
Shore (A): Has a wide hardness range. Is able to be used in extremely soft materials and extremely hard materials. Products such as rubber fenders benefit from being solid to touch but can also compress under pressure.
Shore (D): Used exclusively in firm products, due to it’s solid construction. Hard hats benefit from the superior hardness that shore D offers.
Shore Hardness Comparison Chart
From the chart above you can see that there is some overlap between the shore hardness types. However, it is always important to consider the application when selecting a hardness type. For example, Shore (A) 60° is the same as Shore (D) 0° but this doesn’t mean that materials would have the same properties. So manufacturing a fender out of a Shore (D) material would reduce the flexibility of the fender and reduce it’s impact absorption properties.
To Put It Simply
In order to make it easier to remember shore hardness can be split up like this;
The earlier the letter comes in the alphabet – The softer the material
The lower the hardness number – The softer the material.
We are more than happy to assist with any shore hardness queries you may have. It is always important to get the right material to suit the application.
No problem. Tell us the application and the environment and The Rubber Company will advise the best compound to use.
ANSWER –
RubbaGrass® is a grass mat that works as a cost effective safety surface. This matting is environmentally friendly as the product is made from 100 % recycled rubber. It has excellent anti slip properties and has an excellent safety rating increasing the critical fall rating of the area. When in place maintains a natural appearance of the area. It is suitable for parks, schools, forest parks, golf courses, where the natural appearance of the environment is essential.
RubbaGrass® Matting is simply placed over the area of grass. There are no costly ground works needed, relatively little skill to install correctly. This rubber matting will allow the grass to grow up through it and the allow the rain water to pass through.
Wet pour is a rubber safety surfacing. Made of two layers. Firstly, a larger grade of recycled rubber is used as a base layer, followed by a high quality, finer, purer layer is used for the top layer. These layers are prepared at your site. The granules are mixed with a binder. This combination forms a treacle like substance that will set in approximately 12 hours (temperature dependent). The main advantages of wet pour are its amazing flexibility of design and colour. It is seamless in appearance, giving an area smoothness with no joints.
There is a lot of confusion around the difference between Viton® and FKM rubber and people tend to interpret these as different materials.
This is however not the case. Both are single based materials calledFluoro Rubber.
-FKM is the abbreviated form for the fluoroelastomer according to ASTM.
The Rubber Company supply commercial FKM rubber sheeting in rolls/sheet and convert to gaskets / seals.
-Viton® is the registered trademark of DuPont Performance Elastomers.
We also supply genuine FKM Viton rubber sheeting in rolls/sheet and convert to gaskets / seals.
Yes However the more complicated the design, the more time it will take to carry out the installation. We can help you develop a suitable design which will match your requirements and the most efficient installation time. We can also implement logo’s and graphics and games to enhance play value into the surface.
RubbaPour® is available in more than 22 coloured EPDM granules Red, Green, Grey, Yellow, Blue, Earth Yellow, Brown, Forest Green, Apple Green, Purple, Beige, Eggshell, White, Bright Red, Lime Green, Cream, Special Blue, Teal, Rainbow, Bright Orange and can also be supplied in Flecks with any percentage mix.
RubbaPour® requires 24 hours to set, after this time the surface is ready to us.
RubbaPour® is hard wearing rubber granules mixed with PU binder and poured in situ. This creates a seamless, porous or non porous with flexible finish impact absorbent and slip resistant. RubbaPour® is suitable for outside applications.