Organizations around the world use the Premier RPA for research into product innovations that improve quality and promote sustainability. Here are examples of how the Premier RPA contributed to important research that affects products we come in contact with almost every day:
Sustainability
Recycling is key to achieving sustainability in the rubber and tire industries. Major tire companies are assessing the use of recycled carbon black (rCB) and particulated rubber to help reduce reliance on virgin materials. But ensuring consistent product quality and maintaining performance is a concern with these materials.
In a recent patent filing, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC* detailed how researchers assessed rCB and recycled rubber in tire subtread formulations. The Bridgestone team used Alpha Technologies’ Premier Rubber Process Analyzer (RPA) to evaluate processing and performance parameters of rCB and recycled rubber:
✅ Assessed viscoelastic behavior using strain and frequency sweep tests per ASTM D6204 for processability and performance.
✅ Enabled precise monitoring of cure characteristics and viscosity, both of which are critical for optimizing recycled content compounds and ensuring consistency with existing formulations.
This patent demonstrates how the Premier RPA promotes sustainable innovation by enabling the transition to greener materials without compromising quality or performance.
*Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC. (2023). Rubber composition and tire comprising sustainable resources and related methods (U.S. Patent No. 10,227,479 B2). United States Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US10227479B2/en
Safety
Flame retardancy is becoming an increasingly important requirement for rubber materials, especially in vibration isolation components such as dampers, bushings, and engine mounts. Beyond the selection of flame retardants (FRs), achieving uniform dispersion in the rubber matrix is critical for ensuring consistent performance.
A recent patent* filed by Sumitomo Riko Company Ltd. highlights how researchers evaluated the incorporation of metal hydroxide FRs in vibration isolation rubber compositions using Alpha Technologies’ Premier Rubber Process Analyzer (RPA). Their work demonstrated significant improvements in physical properties, dynamic magnification, and flame-resistant performance when dispersion quality was carefully controlled.
✅ In combination with dihydrazide compounds and carbon black, the dispersion of alternative fillers such as aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide in vibration isolation elements can be optimized and directly evaluated using the Premier RPA.
✅ Dispersion quality was quantified using the storage modulus ratio:
ΔG’ = G’₂ / G’₁
Here, G’₁ is the storage modulus of unvulcanized rubber at 11 Hz, 42% strain, 40 °C, while G’₂ is the modulus at 11 Hz, 0.28% strain, 40 °C. A lower ΔG’ indicates better filler dispersion within the matrix.
The Premier RPA enabled fast, reliable, and precise evaluation of flame retardant dispersion in non-tire rubber applications—helping accelerate the development of safer, higher-performance materials.
*Sumitomo Riko Co., Ltd., Flame-retardant vibration-damping (isolation) rubber composition and flame-retardant vibration-damping (isolation) rubber member, European Patent EP 3940026 A1, published January 19, 2022; application filed June 24, 2020; granted May 10, 2023 https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3940026A1/en