The production process of rubber bushings mainly includes key steps such as raw material preparation, skeleton treatment, rubber mixing, molding, vulcanization, and quality inspection.
Raw Material Preparation and Skeleton Treatment: High-quality metal skeletons and rubber materials are selected. The metal skeleton needs to undergo surface treatments such as shot blasting and phosphating to enhance the adhesion strength with the rubber and prevent "debonding" during use.
Rubber Mixing: According to performance requirements, natural rubber or synthetic rubber (such as nitrile rubber, EPDM rubber, etc.) is uniformly mixed with carbon black, vulcanizing agents, accelerators, softeners, and other compounding agents in an internal mixer to form a compound with specific physical properties.
Molding: The compound is wrapped onto the metal skeleton by calendering or injection molding to form a preliminary shape. Modern processes mostly use automated injection molding equipment to ensure uniform distribution of the rubber compound.
Vulcanization: The molded bushing is vulcanized under high temperature and high pressure to cross-link the rubber molecules, obtaining stable elasticity and mechanical strength. The vulcanization process requires precise control of temperature, pressure, and time to ensure product performance.
Quality Inspection and Testing: Finished products must pass multiple rigorous tests, including:
- Tensile and adhesive strength tests
- High-frequency fatigue life tests (simulating hundreds of thousands of bumps)
- Dimensional and visual inspections
- Ensuring stable operation under extreme conditions.