Melhorias no processo de extrusão e vulcanização de perfis de borracha de base polimérica

Abstract

This work aimed to accomplish improvements in the extrusion and vulcanization process of rubber seals based on ethylene-propylene-monomer (EPDM). The work took place in production lines of the Autotravi Borrachas e Plásticos company, aiming to get quality, productivity and cost savings, from structural, parameter and process improvements. For that, it was necessary to conduct studies on the situation in which the process found itself, recognizing the problems with the purpose of developing projects and putting them into practice to, finally, estimate possible gains. Therefore, it was theoretically based on scientific articles on topics such as rubber, vulcanization, extrusion and rubber sealing profiles, which justified the need for new projects. Improvements were estimated, according to the parameters and processes that were put into practice and resulted in gains for the company. The implementation of these improvements ended in increases on the temperatures of the extruders, vulcanization tunnels and even in the extruded profiles, in addition to obtaining greater temperature stability. The improvements were made in different lines and as soon as the effectiveness was proven, they were reproduced in other lines where it was possible to reproduce them. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]