Vulcanisation is a process where rubber becomes elasticated. This is useful for many applications and helps to make rubber a more usable and sturdy material.
Prior to vulcanisation, rubber has a gummy consistency. This means it can be moulded and shaped much easier as it is more malleable and it will stay in the shape it is formed into, rather than returning to its original shape.
Vulcanisation helps to firm the rubber, making it much firmer and stronger and giving it the ability to return to its original shape, therefore making it a much more usable material.
When rubber is vulcanised, the elastomers in the rubber are cured meaning they are no longer able to be manipulated and shaped in the same way, preserving the shape of the rubber and helping it to remember the worm it is in.
This is what makes rubber stretchy and what helps it to hold its shape, even when squashed, pulled or flattened. It will bounce back to its original shape with ease, rather than remaining in its altered state.
There are several different methods vulcanising services will use. One of the main methods used is heating it at a fixed temperature for a certain length of time at a specific pressure.
This helps to blond and cure the elastomers, therefore taking rubber from being a gum-like material to a strong, hard-wearing material which can be used for many more applications.
The process can be likened to baking bread dough. Before baking, the dough (or rubber) is easily stretched, shaped and can be formed in any way.
However, once it is baked (or cured) it stays in the shape of a loaf, and even if you flatten or squish the loaf, it will return to the shape it was baked into.
