Amazon Rainforest Original Source of Rubber – Who Knew

Most people associate the growing of rubber trees in plantations with South East Asia, but the rubber tree is actually a native of the Amazon rainforest. It made its way to South East Asia via Kew, England then Ceylon, then to Singapore where it was extensively propagated in the colonies near the Equator. Rubber products were made exclusively from the sap, which is called latex, until synthetic rubber was developed. Once synthetic rubber became commercially viable, it was used instead of natural rubber in many products, although the ordinary consumer probably doesn’t care which type of rubber is used, as long as the product does what it was purchased to do.

However, to a manufacturer of plastic rubberneeding to meet quality standards, commercial targets, government regulations and client specifications, an understanding of the way rubber performs during the manufacturing process is crucial to success. Without it, the consumer would not get the product they were expecting, product returns would increase and costs would climb.

Plastic rubber (rubber extruded profiles) in particular requires careful consideration of the physical and mechanical properties of the material. The first issue a manufacturer must address is the environment to which the material will be exposed. This can vary from extremes of temperature and rainfall in profiles used in the construction industry to the heat and vibration experienced under the bonnet where the rubber is used in the automotive industry. With this knowledge the manufacturer can create a suitable product that will meet client specifications.

The manufacture of rubber extruded profiles is a very technical enterprise, as properties such as tensile strength, hardness, flexibility and speed of recovery from deflection tend to vary with different materials. Choices made at this point in the process must be weighed against the respective benefits or weaknesses of the properties under consideration.

The amazing properties of rubber have seen its use spread to most industries. Chief among these are the building industry, where plastic rubber (rubber extruded profiles) have many uses, in civil construction including expansion joints for roads, bridges and runways, and the automotive industry, which uses all shapes and types of rubber extruded profiles.

This use of rubber products combined with PVC plasticin the automotive industry has improved quality e.g. better weatherproofing around windows, while at the same time, created modern vehicles that are much lighter and more economical to run than their steel and chromed counterparts from days past.

From a few seeds smuggled out of Brazil, an entire industry developed and the properties of the rubber plant were considered valuable enough to spend time and money synthesizing it. From large, solid rubber seals to the fine rubber thread used in catheters, this find in the Amazon has transformed the human experience.