Rubber

What is rubber?

We all know it and come across it several times a day. But what exactly is it? The name comes from the English verb rub, which is to rub. rubber is very much in demand as it is applicable in many situations. The entire world market for rubber is around 24 million tonnes. It is used, for instance, in car tyres, shoe soles, boots, lifeboats, bicycle saddles and ignition cables. But that is far from the only thing. You see it everywhere, perhaps without actually realising it.

Natural or synthetic

Natural rubber is obtained from latex. Latex is extracted from the Brazilian rubber tree. One third of the sap from the tree consists of rubber. The latex is filtered and diluted with water. What comes out of this is treated with acid. This causes the rubber particles to solidify. The resulting material is rolled out so that it can dry. Since the material is so common, demand exceeds supply. Since the rubber trees cannot produce all the demand, alternatives were looked at. These alternatives were found. Polymers are made from petroleum. These have features common to natural rubber. The non-natural alternatives are called synthetic.

Rubber at TRALERT®

rubber can be found in various products within TRALERT®'s LED lighting range. This is because the material has several advantages. One of the products for which rubber is frequently used are the LED side marker lights. Side marker lights are intended to indicate the width of the vehicle. In some semi-trailers, these lights are mandatory. You can often find rubber in the housing of side marker lights. This is because the material is very resistant to damage. This contributes enormously to the service life of the light. You can also find the material in TRALERT® mounting rubbers.