The five main types of raw materials for vibration isolation and energy dissipation products
Polymer elastomer materials (core materials)
This type of material is the core for manufacturing rubber isolation bearings (especially laminated rubber bearings), mainly providing vertical bearing capacity and horizontal deformation recovery capacity.
- Natural rubber (NR) : It has good elasticity and fatigue resistance, but its aging resistance and heat resistance are slightly inferior. It is often used in bearings where performance requirements are not strict or in composite bearings.
- Chloroprene rubber (CR) : It has excellent aging resistance, ozone resistance, weather resistance and certain flame retardancy. It is the most widely used isolation rubber material, especially suitable for conventional environments.
- Ethylene Propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber: It has excellent weather resistance, ozone resistance and heat resistance, and is suitable for cold regions or outdoor environments with strong ultraviolet radiation.
- Butyl rubber/halogenated butyl rubber: It has relatively good damping performance and is often used to make high-damping rubber bearings. It can consume a considerable amount of seismic energy by itself.
Metal materials
Metallic materials mainly provide strength, rigidity and energy dissipation capacity.
- Steel plates : They are used to manufacture the internal steel plates in laminated rubber bearings, restricting the lateral deformation of the rubber and providing vertical stiffness. It is also used for various connection plates and housings.
- Special steel:
Soft steel/low-carbon steel: It is used to manufacture metal yield dampers (such as shear plate dampers, buckling restraint braces BRB), which dissipate energy through the plastic deformation of steel.
Lead: It has excellent plastic deformation capacity and recrystallization characteristics. It is used to manufacture lead cores in lead core rubber bearings, providing initial stiffness and hysteretic energy dissipation capacity. It is also used in some extruded dampers.
Shape memory alloys (such as nickel-titanium alloys) : They are used in some high-performance dampers or self-resetting devices, taking advantage of their superelastic properties to return to their original state after deformation.
Friction material
It is used for manufacturing friction pendulum bearings and various types of friction dampers.
- High wear-resistant polymer composite materials
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon) : It has an extremely low and stable coefficient of friction and is usually used as a sliding surface material, paired with stainless steel plates.
Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) : It has extremely high wear resistance and is also often used on sliding surfaces.
- Stainless steel: Usually used as the paired friction surface of PTFE or UHMWPE, it requires a high surface finish (mirror-like effect).
- Specialized friction gasket material: Composed of various modified polymers and fillers (such as graphite, bronze powder), it can be designed with specific friction coefficients and wear resistance.
Viscous material
Used for manufacturing viscous dampers.
- Silicone oil/polymer synthetic silicone oil: The most commonly used viscous medium. The performance parameters of the damper can be precisely designed by adjusting its viscosity, viscosity-temperature index and chemical stability.
- Methyl silicone oil, phenyl silicone oil, etc. : Select according to different temperature ranges and performance requirements.
- Special hydraulic oil: Some dampers will also use high-performance synthetic hydraulic oil.
Auxiliary and functional materials
These materials are crucial for ensuring the long-term performance of the product.
- Adhesive: It is used for irreversible chemical bonding between rubber and steel plates and is the key to ensuring the integrity of laminated rubber bearings. It is usually special epoxy resin or isocyanate adhesive.
- Anti-rust coatings and sealing materials
Used for anti-corrosion treatment of steel plate surfaces (such as heavy-duty anti-corrosion coatings, galvanizing).
The outer protective layer used for bearings is usually a highly weather-resistant rubber or polyurethane coating to prevent the internal materials from aging.
Sealant, used for waterproofing and dustproofing at assembly joints.
- Filling and modification materials
Carbon black and silica: Rubber reinforcing agents, significantly enhancing the mechanical properties of rubber.
Plasticizers, antioxidants and vulcanizing agents: Improve the processing performance and durability of rubber and complete vulcanization crosslinking.