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Compound
An uncured rubber composition including the rubber, oil, carbon black, curatives, etc.

Compression Set
The decrease in thickness of a test specimen 30 minutes after removal from a device in which the specimen has been subjected to compression deformation.

Cure
An irreversible process during which a rubber compound through a change in its chemical stucture (cross-linking, for example), becomes less plastic and more resistant to swelling by organic liquids and elastic properties are conferred, improved or extended over a greater range of temperature. Cure and vulcaniztion are interchangeable terms as they share the same definition.

Durometer
An instrument for measuring the hardness of rubber and plastic.

Elongation
The percentage of original length to which a rubber compound is stretched.

Hardness
The relative resistance of rubber to indentation. Usually a Shore A2 Hardness tester (Durometer) is used to measure hardness.

Polymerization
Process of linking two or more molecules to form a new molecule having different properties.

Synthetic Rubber
An elastic substance produced from monomers such as butadiene, styrene and isoprene. Because of superior performance (tread wear, resistance to groove cracking, lower cost) synthetic rubbers have largely replaced natural rubber.

Tensile Strength
The maximum stress expressed on pounds per square inch (mega pascal) of a cured rubber compound.

Vulcanization
An irreversible process during which a rubber compound through a change in its chemical stucture (cross-linking, for example), becomes less plastic and more resistant to swelling by organic liquids and elastic properties are conferred, improved or extended over a greater range of temperature. Cure and vulcaniztion are interchangeable terms as they share the same definition.