NVH Rubber Solution: Rubber Bumper Case Study
A while back one of our customers was designing a rubber part for an automotive OEM and was looking for solutions to the rubber part’s squeaking problem. This part was meant to be a shock absorber on a vehicle bodyside, but previous iterations of the rubber bumper made unpleasant squeaking noises when the car was in motion. For the new part design, the company looked to COi橡胶 to assist in solving the rubber part’s noise control issue as COi橡胶 has a long history of servicing the NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) industry in custom NVH rubber components.
Internal vs. External Lubricant for NVH Rubber
The client wanted the new rubber bumper to provide a constantly oily or self-lubricating surface that is clear of color and offer just the right amount of lubricity, or friction reduction, that is beneficial for its final use. At first, the client engineer considered EBS (ethylene bis-stearamide, or ethylene wax) 还有 WD-40 (multi-purpose lubricating oil) as lubricating additives into the rubber compound, but neither of these additives would serve to provide the constant self-lubricated surface the client was looking for.
EBS is a processing agent that improves the material mix’s dispersion and product mold release, but it is not a surface conditioner that can provide a constantly blooming surface lubricant in the final product. WD-40 can be applied to an NVH component’s rubber surface for temporary lubrication. This is considered an external lubricant, but applying external lubricants like WD-40 to each of the NVH rubber bumpers would neither be cost effective nor accomplish the customer’s product performance requirements.
Experienced engineers at COi Rubber Products recommended either erucamide or oleamide, both fatty acid amides, as an internal lubricant for this client’s NVH rubber bumper. Erucamide is a “slow blooming” lubricant, while oleamide is a “fast blooming” lubricant. Now the question came down to which of these internal lubricants – erucamide or oleamide – is more suitable for this client’s product.
Slow Blooming vs. Fast Blooming Lubricant
The release of the internal lubricant to the surface of the rubber for its final use is dictated by the amount of blooming that takes place giving the rubber surface an “adequate” amount of constant lubrication. Therefore, the type of blooming required is dependent on the form, fit, and function of the specific NVH rubber component. Other considerations for the lubricant choice are the mold equipment and mold temperature required for the rubber. For this client’s particular product, the primary concerns were low cost and fast lead time for mass production.
While erucamide does provide better lubrication than the same amount of oleamide, the slow blooming would not be adequate for the size of this client’s product and to meet their fast lead time for large scale production to market. Due to its chemical stability, erucamide also has a lower rate of color formation or yellowing than oleamide, but because the final product did not have a light color requirement this was not a concern. Oleamide is less expensive than erucamide and its lower molecular weight allowed the lubricant to migrate to the molded rubber surface more quickly, i.e. “fast blooming.” Ultimately, experienced engineers at COi Rubber and the client engineers decided on oleamide as the appropriate internal lubricant for this vehicle’s bodyside NVH rubber bumper.
Learn More: Erucamide vs. Oleamide关于COi橡胶
COi Rubber Products 公司是一家定制塑料产品制造商 模压橡胶 和塑料组件供应商。COi Rubber 公司在工程、设计、合成、原型制作以及塑料 模压橡胶 产品的生产方面拥有超过 23 年的经验。我们的能力包括定制合成、 注塑成型 挤压、 橡胶金属粘接 成型 模压成型、挤压成型 传递模塑、插入成型等。我们为汽车、工业、农业、家用电器、HVAC 等行业提供大规模生产和工程支持，以及更多领域。我们的 中国芜湖 制造工厂已通过 IATF 16949 认证。.