Dr Stuart Cook, Director of Research, at the Tun Abdul Razak Research
Centre in Brickendonbury, UK, discusses how natural rubber can meet the
demands of the modern tyre.
With concerns about the state of UK manufacturing, Meagan Ellis takes a look at niche fields where UK firms are making a name for themselves and the challenges that lie ahead.
While much sports apparatus must be light and stiff, favouring composites and polymers, the transfer of force from product to athlete needs to be considered. The ability to alter dynamic properties in polymeric and polymer-matrix composites allows optimisation of these materials for sport.
Vulcanised rubber is one of the most widely used and important materials. In 1857, a book by Thomas Hancock introduced the manufacturing process to Europe. He worked closely with Charles Macintosh and studied samples of Charles Goodyear’s vulcanised rubber.
