Overview
ISO/TR 17051:2020 - "Rubber, vulcanized - Guidelines for material specification" provides practical guidance to create consistent material specifications for vulcanized rubber. It is written to help users who are not rubber experts select appropriate rubber types and properties, and to define a clear designation system (line call‑off code) for each specification. Representative specifications for common rubber families are given in informative annexes (B–M).
Key technical topics and requirements
- Scope and purpose: Guidelines for specifying vulcanized rubber based on the properties of individual rubber types and hardness ranges.
- Rubber types covered: natural rubber (NR), styrene‑butadiene (SBR), nitrile (NBR), hydrogenated nitrile (HNBR), NBR/PVC blends, chloroprene (CR), ethylene acrylic (AEM), fluorocarbon (FKM), silicone (VMQ), epichlorohydrin (ECO), and ethylene‑propylene (EPM / EPDM). Mixed polymer materials are named after their main polymer.
- Designing a material specification: Start by selecting polymer and hardness (ISO/TR 7620 is recommended), then choose core and any supplementary properties. Annexes provide representative basic and supplementary property tables for each rubber type.
- Designation system: A standardized code format using the document number plus rubber type, hardness, type and supplementary property codes (e.g., ISO/TR 17051 NR 70‑1‑C‑L).
- Supplementary property codes include: C (cold‑resistant), F (fuel resistance), L (long‑term properties), O (oil resistance), Oz (ozone resistance), T (tear resistance).
- Referenced test methods and standards: The report cites established ISO test methods and nomenclature, e.g., ISO 1629, ISO 48‑2 (hardness), ISO 37 (tensile/elongation), ISO 815‑1 (compression set), ISO 34‑1 (tear), ISO 188 (ageing), ISO 1431‑1 (ozone), ISO 2921 (temperature retraction).
Practical applications
- Producing clear, repeatable specifications for components such as O‑rings, gaskets, seals, vibration mounts, hoses and moulded parts.
- Selecting material types based on environmental demands: oil/fuel resistance (NBR, FKM, ECO), high‑temperature performance (FKM, VMQ), ozone and weather resistance (EPDM), low‑temperature flexibility (NR, some NBR grades).
- Enabling procurement, design engineers, quality and testing teams to communicate unambiguous material requirements with suppliers.
Who should use this standard
- Design and product engineers specifying elastomer components
- Procurement and specification writers placing material orders
- Quality engineers and test laboratories verifying conformity to material properties
- Manufacturers and compounders developing or offering vulcanized rubber compounds
Related standards
- ISO 1629 (rubber nomenclature) and the various ISO test methods cited in the annexes. Use ISO/TR 7620 as a starting point when selecting polymer and hardness.
Keywords: ISO/TR 17051:2020, vulcanized rubber, rubber material specification, rubber types, designation system, supplementary properties, rubber testing.