Rubber calendering at Goodyear Rubber is among our core offerings. Calendering processes rubber by forcing the material softened by heat into the center of two to five counter-rotating rollers. The rollers compact the sheet as it passes through them. The thickness of the resulting product gets determined by the gap between the cylinders, called the nip region. After that the sheet passes over cooling rollers and is often spooled as a finished product.

Calendering is a popular process because of its ability to precisely adjust the product thickness. For example, Goodyear Rubber is capable of rubber calendering 60″ wide and 0.020″-0.500″ thick continuous roll lengths. Finishing textures and coatings can also be applied to the product. Calendering was originally developed to process rubber, but today is widely used to make thermoplastic films, sheets, and coatings. Calendering is used most frequently in the production of vinyl products, primarily plasticized PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

Rubber Calendering Equipment

Calendering equipment might require a lot of floor space (the machine can be two stories tall) along with programmable logic controllers and computer software control to monitor the machines. In general, calenders and calendering equipment get rated by the material produced per unit. This depends on variables such as the take-up capacity, process material and surface finish. While calendering equipment may be more expensive than extruders, the process requires minimal cleaning. Extruders, on the other hand, must be purged and cleaned after use.

About Goodyear Rubber

Goodyear Rubber manufactures rubber mixes, molds, extrusions, calenders and covers. We are based in Southern California and offer turnkey elastomer solutions to customers in the aerospace, defense, construction, commercial, canning, sporting goods, automotive, mining, food processing and material handling sectors.

Goodyear Rubber handles all components of the rubber manufacturing process for whatever your application. We are ISO 9001:2008 certified and ROHS compliant. Contact us at (909) 987-1774 or custserv@goodyearrubber.com for more information on how we can help you.