UNIVERSITY KUALA LUMPUR

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL AND

BIOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

CRD 20303
RUBBER PROCESSING
EXPERIMENT 1
INVESTIGATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
MASTICATION AND VISCOSITY

PREPARED BY:
MUHAMAD ARHAM HAIKAL BIN MD HILMI
(55105118023)

LECTURER NAME:
MISS MAZLINA BINTI GHAZALI
1.0 OBJECTIVE
 Investigation on the relationship between mastication and viscosity.
 To perform the mastication process of the raw rubber by using two roll mill.
 To measure the viscosity of the masticated raw rubber by using Mooney
Viscometer.
 To relate the mastication time with the viscosity of the raw rubber.

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Elastomeric (rubbery) material can be manufactured into a variety of everyday
products, including tires, tubes, gloves, adhesives, tapes, carpets, etc. The way the
material is processed can affect the outcome of the finished product. This process
called mastication. (Jaehrling, 2016)
The mastication of natural rubber results in the shortening of the long molecular
chains, which affects the viscosity of the material. Mastication is the mechanical
shearing of a raw unvulcanized material, typically natural rubber on a mill or mixer to
reduce the molecular weight to improve processability.
The most simple batch mixing equipment is roll mill. The main design consists of
two horizontal rolls, usually of equal size, arranged side by side and rotating at
varying speeds towards each other. The ratio of the peripheral roll speeds, called the
friction ratio, ranges from 1 to 2. (Drobny, 2014). The higher friction ratio results in
the processed material having higher heat generation. Friction, velocity, and roll sizes
affect the material mass cooling and the speed of its handling. The rolls may be
cooled or heated internally by using flowing cooling water or an appropriate heating
medium, depending on the properties of the process material and its desired
temperature.
During the operation, cutting of the sheet of the material, folding, and rolling are
carried out, which increases the uniformity of the composition. If additives, often in
the powder, liquid, or paste form, are to be incorporated, they are added into a rolling
“bank” formed between the rolls. (Drobny, 2014)
2.0 PROCEDURE
Preparing Sample A .

 Small piece of rubber was cut and then roll it into the sheet by using two roll mill
for 1 minutes.
 The nip of the two roll mill is 0.01 inches and the temperature of the two roll
mills not more than 70 OC. The temperature of the two roll mills was controlled
by water flow.
 Adjust the nip to 0.03 inches when two-roll mill is stopped.
 The two roll mills are started and the rubber sheet is again masticated for about 4
minutes. Adjusted the nip when necessary.
Preparing Sample B

 Small piece of rubber was cut and then roll it into the sheet by using two roll mill
for 2 minutes.
 The nip of the two roll mill is 0.01inches and the temperature of the two roll mills
shouldn’t more than 70 OC. the water flow is used to control the temperature of
the two roll mills.
 Two-roll mill nip’s was adjusted to 0.03 inches when it stopped.
 The two roll mills are started and the rubber sheet is again masticated for about 8
minutes. Adjusted the nip when necessary.
Testing

 Set the temperature of the Mooney viscosity to 100 OC and let it stabilize for
about 30 minutes.
 The sample is tested with Mooney viscometer and the Mooney viscosity is
determined at 5 minutes
3.0 RESULT

Figure 1: Sample A

Figure 2: Sample B

Table 1: Sample A & Sample B

Sample T
No. Result Initial ML01:00+5 Date/Time
Name min
1 Ok Sample A 157.6 73.6 74.2 2020/2/19 11:59
2 Ok Sample B 127.5 60.8 60.7 2020/2/19 12:05
4.0 DISCUSSION

By referring to the graph and the table drawn given, it shows that Mooney
viscosities of both sample A & B are totally different. Sample A, the initial viscosity is
157.6 Mooney units and the final Mooney viscosities is 73.6 Mooney unit. While for
sample B, initial viscosity is 127.6 Mooney units and their final Mooney viscosities is
60.7 Mooney units. So from the different gap of both sample, Sample A is seems more
higher than Sample B.
From the result and graph , it can be observe and elaborate that mastication time is
more proportional to the Mooney viscosities of the rubber. By comparing both samples, it
shows that the sample B has the lower viscosity than the sample A. The reason for these
scenario is because the sample B has been masticated in the roll mill longer compared to
sample A. As a result of this mastication, it has broke down the long chain of the
polyisoprene into shorter chain. Due to the shorter chain of the polyisoprene, makes the
rubber easier to flow and the rubber is become less viscous. The ideal amount of heat will
make the mastication perfect but, the excessive of heat that been supplied will cause the
rubber to become scorch in early minutes. Beside of those causes, the other factors that
affect the viscosity during the mastication are time.
Furthermore, the longer mastication will also provide a homogenous shearing
action to the rubber. The range of the nip will determine the time of the mastication. The
small nip range will makes the rubber masticated more effectively but this will makes the
rubber difficult to shear between the roll because the range is small. While the wider nip
range is less effective but this will makes the rubber easier to shear between the roll. The
right range of nip must be considered in order to work with the time. The movement or
the speed of the roll mill also takes part in contributing the mastication.
Lastly, the speed of the back roll is faster than the front roll that is actually the
shearing action is provided from the back roll, the faster the back roll, the greater the
force of shear is.
5.0 CONCLUSION

The function of mastication is to break the long chain of polyisoprene to the

shorter chain which makes it easier to be blend with material such activators and
accelerators. Mastication is finished by shearing the raw rubber into the two-roll mill at
certain parameter of time, temperature, and speed. Normally, in the industries those
parameters are controlled or manually set by the operators, or engineers. The perfect
parameters must be suitable in order to get better result of viscosity.

6.0 ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

1. Explain the relationship between molecular weight of the elastomer and the
processing time.
 A high molecular weight of the elastomer will increase the chemical
resistance which means the viscosity of the material will also increase and
makes it harder to process the material. It shows that high molecular
weight of the elastomer will increase the processing time.

2. Discuss the difficulties encountered during mastication.

 The difficulties that have been encountered during this mastication process
was roll mill temperature that cause the sample of rubber become sticky
and difficult to cut and blend with other compound. Then, the distance
between two roller itself make the mastication process difficult because of
loose gear in the machine.

7.0 REFRENCE

Drobny, J. G. (2014). Roll Mill. Handbook of Therhmoplastic Elastromers (Second

Edtion),

Jaehrling, M. (2016, 2 18). Analyzing the Mastication Process in Elastomer Processing.

Retrieved from Thermo Fisher Scientific:
https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/materials/analyzing-the-mastication-process-
in-elastomer-processing/