Testing Solutions Since 1954

Tire Technology Expo

Bareiss could not have been more excited about introducing for the very first time their Rubber Process Analyzer at the Tire Technology Expo in Hannover, Germany at the beginning of May. The RPA ultra-debut was a showstopper for many of the attendees !

Just imagine how busy Team Bareiss was sharing their story about the world’s first rotational closed cavity rheometer with unlimited oscillation strain.

By pushing the testing boundaries to an unrivaled level, Bareiss has launched a new Rubber Process Analyzer. The RPA Ultra can run isothermal and non-isothermal time test, stress relaxation, frequency sweep, strain sweep and temperature sweep. It is not only capable of running oscillatory testing at a broader frequency range (10-3 Hz till 102 Hz) and strain range (unlimited strain LAOS). Our RPA Ultra is also capable of running a steady shear test in full rotation from 10-3 s-1 till 500 s-1 of shear rate. This breakthrough technology is unlike any commercially available RPA on the market today. Using this type of test, the instrument has successfully measured steady shear viscosity with high repeatability without the required corrections as in capillary rheometer testing, making pressure driven flow instruments less attractive for rubber compounds. The closed boundary configuration prevents edge fracture as commonly experienced with open boundary rheometers (DMA) on high viscosity, high elasticity materials.

At the early stage of development, the RPA stood for “Rubber Process Analyzer”. The aim of the instrument was initially to offer an unsurpassed ability to study and understand rubber compound processing challenges. Due to the technical limitations at the time, the instrument lacked steady shear measurement. With the Bareiss RPA Ultra, this goal has finally been achieved. This single instrument provides all means of characterizing rubber processing from viscoelastic properties of uncured rubber compounds to steady shear properties, the only prerequisite of successful use of flow simulation software.

The combination of grooved and grooveless polished dies successfully measured wall slip offering the perfect and ideal tool for the generation of the most relevant rheology data to be used in modern flow simulation software.The Bareiss RPA Ultra can perform tests as well as any commercially available RPA’s. The available tests include frequency sweep up to 100 Hz, strain sweep with limitless strain, isothermal and non-isothermal time tests and stress relaxation. The Bareiss RPA Ultra offers in addition the unique possibility of measuring steady shear viscosity.

tire expo 2

As a leading German manufacturer, Bareiss has shaped the development of hardness testing on plastics, polymers, and elastomers for over 65 years. The driving force behind this Family owned and operated business is Oliver Wirth and Katrin Shen. As third generation visionaries, these owners continue to focus on expanding our material testing technologies, just like the Bareiss RPA Ultra, the world’s first rotational closed cavity rheometer with unlimited oscillation strain.

Bareiss GmbH is proud to announce that the first company to receive our RPA ultra is none other than Continental Tires in Hanover, Germany. The renowned Professor Dr. Jorge Lacayo-Pineda, the Head of the Expert Field for Materials Evaluation at Continental Tires is reviewing this project. He has held different executive positions in the Materials Labs of Continental since 1998.

He is an Honorary Professor at the Leibniz University of Hanover and Visiting Professor at the Qingdao University of Science & Technology. Dr. Jorge Lacayo-Pineda is Vice-Chair of the Committee D24 Carbon Black, Chair of the Sub-Committees D11.20 Rubber Compounding Materials & Processes and D36.70 rCB Testing in Rubber of ASTM International, member of the US Delegation to ISO TC 45 – Rubber & Rubber Products, Convener of the ISO Working Group TC45/SC2/WG5 Chemical Tests of Rubber, and member of the Board Council of the German Rubber Society. We look forward to collaborating with Continental Tires as they explore the many possibilities that the RPA ultra has to offer in their research and development department for tire testing. Shaking hands with Dr. Jorge Lacayo-Pineda during the DKT IRC show is one of the Bareiss owners, Mr. Oliver Wirth.