The benefits of rubber and foam sheeting - Process Industry Forum

Rubber sheeting can be used in a variety of industrial sectors and applications, including the automotive, defence and marine trades. In our latest article, PIF picks the brains of elastomer experts Monomer for some of the benefits of rubber sheeting for your business.

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There are various types and materials of sheet rubber. Your basic rolls of rubber sheeting will typically be 5m or 10m long, depending on the thickness of the material. Elastomer experts, Monomer, stock a wide range of sizes and thicknesses, making them the ideal solution for all types of rubber sheeting.

Benefits of rubber sheeting

Rubber sheeting can be applied in a varied range of applications. It is widely used in the home and in industrial environments, such as for protection on work surfaces; to create cushioning or bump stops; to cut gaskets from; and as scrapers and seals for things like garage doors.

Some of the benefits of rubber and foam sheeting include:

• Safety for staff.
• Safety in public areas.
• Protection for equipment.
• Ad-hoc sealing and gasketing.
• Anti-vibration.
• Available to British Standards specifications.
• Available in a range of materials suitable for a wide variety of settings.
• WRC (Water Research Centre approved) materials available.
• Materials designed for electrical conductivity or resistance.
• Other than the ‘standard’ commercial grades of material, Monomer also have slight variations on these: very hard or very soft grades of rubber; very thin gauge sheets for specialist applications; rubber with insertions of various types for added strength or for use in diaphragms; as well as a variety of colours, dependant on the material selection.
• Available in a range of colours making it a suitable option for commercial and retail purposes.
• Can be cut into gaskets, washers and pads.

Where to buy rubber sheeting

One of the most celebrated advantages of rubber sheeting (and other sheeting materials, such as foam) is its versatility. For instance, it can be cut into different standard designs, such as pads, gaskets and washers. It can also be used as a protective sheet layer to cover a surface, such as on work surfaces in the industrial or commercial industry. Or it can be used as a lining.

Suppliers of rubber sheeting, Monomer, stock solid rubber sheeting in a range of materials, from commercial grades and BS (British Standard) specifications, through to military specifications. They can supply a broad selection of materials, across a range of thicknesses, which are available to purchase directly from their online store.

So, as you can see, rubber sheeting is an incredibly flexible product in every sense!

Foam rubber is a durable material made from a variety of polymer and elastomer blends that produce some of the most versatile and unique materials in the foam world.

Neoprene is a medium weight, durable material that is a foam rubber available in a variety of styles. The three main types include chloroprene rubber (CR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), and ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM). These different blends create subtle variations in the material, each with its own set of performance characteristics and optimal applications.

For more information, please visit foam rubber supplier.

Due to the lack of blending, the simplest and "purest" form is CR foam rubber, which is the oldest of the three. This material is durable, but not to the same extent as some blended forms that have been formulated with additions to enhance performance properties. Nevertheless, this material performs well in seals, bearings, and gasket applications because it is resistant to water and many oils and fluids.

 Colorful Rubber Foam

SBR is a blend of monomers styrene and butadiene, developed during World War II to compete with natural rubber and make up for its short supply. Advantages over natural rubber include better resistance to water, organics, and abrasion, as well as better flex and tear resistance and tensile strength.

Foam plants use blended EPDM rubber as their neoprene product. This monomer formulation has excellent moisture and temperature resistance for gasket and insulation applications. It is highly resistant to weather, sunlight, chemicals, oxidation, and petroleum derivatives, as are similar formulations, but it also includes ozone resistance, a quality not found in all other materials. 

A very consistent foam rubber, this closed-cell foam is cut into sheets as thin as 1/8 inch or as thick as 2 inches and is available in conventional and high quality. These rubber sheets are even used for roofing and to help collect rainwater because it is a non-toxic material. EPDM also has a cost advantage over CR neoprene by using a more affordable material in its compounds.

Gymnastic rubber is another widely recognized high-density foam rubber product. These durable black foam sections are often seen as mats or padding on school gym floors or fitness floors in health clubs. Fitness rubber products are based on a similar type of neoprene that has a butadiene rubber formulation but also includes nitrile rubber (NBR). The material stocked by the foam factory is polyvinyl chloride nitrile rubber or PVC/NBR.

These dense, flexible foam rubbers have many applications beyond sports flooring uses. Fitness rubber is often used as kneeling and camping mats because of its ability to act as a hard surface foam pad while still providing enough stability and strength to prevent the user from bottoming out and bouncing. Its insulating value keeps people warm on the ground like a sleeping mat and allows it to be used for building insulation because the insulating properties it provides take up relatively little space.

Foam rubber offers a range of services, from money-saving and practical insulation to recreational and interactive sports mats. Differences in formulation allow many different products to share core properties while being customized for specific jobs. The benefits of foam rubber can be applied to all of their applications, and their specialization makes each one stand out as an individually useful material.

Huamei specializes in the production of rubber foam insulation materials, glass wool products, extrusion polystyrene insulation board (XPS), and other thermal insulation products.