Rubber sheet is a sheet made of rubber or cloth coated with rubber. There is a wide variety of rubber sheets in the market and finding the most appropriate one is often important and difficult. Selecting that kind of sheet you should check its length, width and thickness as per your requirements.
Today rubber sheets are available in the market, in various designs and specifications. This diversity is made in order to make them suitable for specific applications. The major differences in their production divide them into the following types:
Natural rubber sheets
They are characterized by excellent dynamic, rebound, elasticity and mechanical properties. These sheets are great for use as general sealing materials. They are most widely used in the market, as they are applicable in any environment without specific requirements.
EPDM rubber sheets
They have good resistance to acids, alkali and ketones and hence they are used for outdoor and high zone environmental applications.
Neoprene rubber sheets
These sheets offer good resistance to petroleum products, oil, flame, acids and alkalis. They are used in industrial applications as corrosion resistant coatings, padding in external metal cases to protect the contents, noise isolation in power transformer installations and other electrical applications.
Nitrile rubber sheets
They are specially designed for high resistance to oil and solvent products and therefore they are used in making electrical transformers, for sealing, in food industry and also in special application for dielectric oils for electrical installations and equipment. Moreover, they are often used between flanges and similar joints subjected to fluid or air pressure.
Silicone rubber sheets
They are widely used in pharmaceutical industry as they are resistant to high temperature and have low permeability. Also, these sheets have extreme tendency of resisting weather aging, ozone and chemicals.
Fabric reinforced rubber sheets
This type of sheets is made by Natural or Synthetic rubber. Here one or more layers of fabric are reinforced to render strength against high pressure. That is why this type of rubber sheets has wide usage in high pressure spots.
Application of Rubber Sheets
Some of the most popular uses of rubber sheets are in flooring and roofing applications. Rubber provides good resistance to substances like oil and petroleum, ultra violet lights, oxidizing elements etc. Moreover, it has the capacity to maintain its flexibility even in cold temperature. Its elasticity even makes it suitable for various kinds of shock absorbers and for specialized machinery mountings designed to reduce vibration.
There are various types of rubber sheets that are used for numerous purposes e.g., industrial buildings, agricultural machines, OEM parts etc. They also have commercial and residential usage e.g., for store rooms, gyms, dance studios, garages, under shower pans, drainage systems, washer and dryer pans, weather stripping and in many other construction and remodeling uses.
Rubber sheets are used in many areas like footwear, medicine, engineering, railways, automotive, defense, aeronautics, marine etc. For example, they can be used as a lining for storage tanks and railroad tank cars, for making gaskets, floor mats, bearing pads, horse stall mats, orthopedic footwear and sand blasting or other types of curtains capable of withstanding extreme work conditions. Such sheets can even be laid under shower heads and outside washrooms to prevent slipping or tripping.
Rubber sheets are becoming more widely used and therefore their demand in the near future will increasingly grow. Above all, the rubber sheets are more cost effective in comparison with their substitutes available in the market. The ability of rubber to combine itself easily with other products and its cost effectiveness makes it the most favored product in the industrial sectors.