Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG) will host a session on identifying the root cause of split-related defects in molded rubber parts during the American Chemical Society Rubber Division’s Rubber Expo 2010 & 178th Technical Meeting to be held October 12 – 14, 2010 at the Frontier Airlines Center (formerly Midwest Airlines Center), Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The presentation will be given on Tuesday, October 12 at 10:30 a.m. in Room 203B by Donald Madda, program manager for industrial cryogenics within the Engineering Solutions Group of Airgas Merchant Gases.
“Identifying the cause of split-related defects in molded rubber parts is the critical step in correcting the problem,” Madda said. “Our presentation is designed to help manufacturers of rubber products determine whether a split defect is caused by cryogenic processing or whether it is simply exposed by cryogenic processing. Splits caused by typical cryogenic processing exhibit different physical characteristics at the split compared to the physical characteristics of flow front problems that may occur during filling of the mold cavity.”
According to Madda, the different physical characteristics of molded rubber splits were identified during a new and innovative diagnostic test involving a specialized mold and a precision-controlled press to produce samples with poor melt-flow fronts and samples with good melt-flow fronts. The samples were then subjected to a series of cryogenic processing temperatures and deliberately broken during the frozen state while using a controlled test fixture and protocols. The samples were then evaluated and compared to each other.
“We are happy to host this session and to exhibit at the Rubber Expo 2010 and 178th Technical Meeting so we can give our customers and prospective customers the opportunity to meet some of the most capable and experienced people in the industry,” said Tom Thoman, senior vice president for chemical and petroleum industries at Airgas. “As an industry leader in cryogenics, Airgas has specialists to help engineer the right solutions and provide consistent performance for our customers.”
Van Walworth, president of Research & Design Specialties, Inc., co-authored the presentation with Madda. Walworth’s career spans more than three decades in product research and development, tool and equipment design, process establishment and improvement, troubleshooting, and project management.
Source: http://www.airgas.com/