Natural Rubber

Flexibility and Strength for Your Industrial Applications

While many of the rubber materials used in sealing applications are synthetic—a type of rubber made of petrochemicals in a lab or manufacturing plant—natural rubber is a raw material option. Natural rubber is produced from latex, an organic substance that can be found in the sap of rubber trees. The hevea brasiliensis, a species of rubberwood native to the rainforests of South America, is considered the primary source of latex for natural rubber. Until synthetic elastomers were invented in the 1930s, natural rubber was the only available polymer for the manufacturing of O-rings. North Coast Seal uses natural rubber materials to produce flexible, strong seals and O-rings for your projects. The following are just a few of the key uses of natural rubber:

• To produce seals for brake systems
• To produce seals for food and beverage applications
• To provide materials for non-hydraulic sealing applications
• To produce dampeners (because of natural rubber’s ability to absorb vibration)

Reach out to our team to learn more about choosing natural rubber and the potential advantages for your application.

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The Benefits of Natural Rubber

Flexibility and Strength for Your Products

Natural rubber has a temperature range of -58°F to 158°F (dry heat only). It has a Shore A hardness range of 40 to 90. The primary benefit of natural rubber is that it has high tensile strength. This is the maximum that a material can be stretched and still withstand the stretching. A material like natural rubber with high tensile strength will not break or be weakened easily. Natural rubber is one of the most flexible types of rubbers and is resistant to water, some chemicals, cutting, tearing, and wear, making it ideal for many applications.

Benefits of Natural Rubber

• High tensile strength
• High resistance
• High abrasion properties
• High tear-resistance properties
• Good friction surface
• Excellent adhesion to metals
• Good resistance to organic acids and alcohols
• Moderate resistance to aldehydes

However, if your application requires resistance to light, heat, or ozone, a synthetic rubber or material like neoprene may be a better option. Natural rubber is not widely used in the sealing industry because of its poor compression set performance and its lack of resistance to a variety of fluids. It is also banned for most medical applications.

We are happy to discuss whether natural or synthetic rubber is best for your specific needs.

Learn More About Natural Rubber

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