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ELASTOMER SELECTION WEEK Webinar: Natural Rubber Grades
May 11, 2027 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
May 11, 2027; 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET
Webinar Overview: Natural rubber is the backbone of tires and many industrial rubber products, yet the differences between its grades are often misunderstood. This webinar explains how natural rubber is produced, how the major grades are classified and specified, and how to choose the right grade for performance, processing and cost. It also covers quality variation and the supply and sustainability factors that now affect every natural rubber purchase.
Webinar Focus:
- How natural rubber is produced, from latex collection to finished bales
- The main grade families: technically specified rubber (TSR), ribbed smoked sheet (RSS), latex concentrate and specialty grades
- How grades are specified and tested, including dirt, ash, volatile matter, Mooney viscosity and plasticity retention index (PRI)
- How grade choice affects processing, cure and final compound properties
- Managing lot to lot variability in tire and industrial applications
- Supply chain, sustainability and EUDR considerations
Audience: Compounders, chemists, quality professionals and purchasing staff who select, specify or buy natural rubber, including technically specified (TSR) and ribbed smoked sheet (RSS) grades. Some technical background is helpful.
Category: Materials & Chemistry; Compounding & Formulation
Price: Free for Members / $99 Non-members
Instructor: Brendan Rodgers
Bio: Brendan is based in Austin Texas and has spent 42 years working in the tire and rubber industry with both The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and ExxonMobil. Currently, he has a consulting and engineering company based in Austin, Texas. He has worked on a broad range of tire and industrial rubber products including hydraulic hose and conveyor belts, materials technology and product design. Brendan has had work assignments in the United States, China, Ireland, Italy and Luxembourg working on original equipment automobile tires, truck tires, industrial rubber products and new tire materials technologies. He is the originator of a broad range of patents in tire and rubber technology and many industry publications including editor of the text, Rubber Compounding, Chemistry and Applications, and author of the text, Tire Engineering, both published by CRC Press. Brendan has a PhD in chemical engineering from The Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland, where he studied thermodynamics, heat transfer through large rubber sections and vulcanization kinetics. He has a master’s degree in Polymer Technology, also from The Queen’s University and a BSc in Biological Chemistry from The University of Ulster.