DKT: Rubber industry exhibition and conference

DKT 2018 will be a focal point for the international rubber processing industry, with around 290 company exhibitors and 3.000 industry professionals expected to attend.

Held every three years at the Nürnberg Messe, the event is organised by German rubber society Deutsche Kautschuk-Gesellschaft eV (DKG).

The DKT 2018 trade exhibition opens at 9.00am and closes at 6.00pm each day, except for the final day, when the hall closes at 4.00pm.

Meanwhile, conference* presentations from a wide range of technical experts within the rubber industry, academia and research organisations, will examine the latest innovations and developments in rubber research and technology.

As in previous years, the conference programme will encompass a selection of themes on each of the four days:

2 July: Raw Materials and Compounds; Testing and Analyses; and TPE-Forum

3 July: Raw Materials and Compounds – Sustainability;  Testing and Analyses – Tires; and  TPE-Forum

4 July: Processing;  New Technology Markets; and  Applications

5 July: Simulation;  Applications

An interesting element will be a special lecture programme on tires, being staged on 3 July under the banner: From Science to System Integration.

Tire Day presentations will include: Tyre Development for Future Mobility by Romain Hansen, Goodyear Innovation Center Luxemburg; and Influence of Functionalized S-SBR on Silica-filled Rubber Compound Properties by a team from the University of Twente and Asahi Kasei Corp.

Among the materials science presentations at will be a paper on morphology control by researchers at Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH, while an Arlanxeo team will offer insights into new compounding concepts based on ultra-high molecular weight EPDM.

Other materials-focused paper topics will include: EPDM with bimodal molecular weight; activator-accelerator Interaction in SBR; diamine-cured elastomers; and improving long term performance of HNBR compounds.

In the testing & analyses arena, paper topics will include: Fracture and failure of elastomers under complex loading conditions; use of non-isothermal kinetics for calculating vulcanisation time; and methods for improved analysis and prediction of sealing behaviour.

The TPE Forum, meanwhile, will host presentations on: Simulation of TPE materials; sustainable TPEs for the automotive industry; TPV corner moulding for weatherseals; and the correction of defects during TPE injection moulding on EPDM profiles.

Another feature of DKT 2018 will be the University Session on 3 July – a scientific lecture programme and educational symposium that offers young researchers an opportunity to present their scientific work.

DKG is also offering an Educational Symposium on 4-5 July. Subjects covered will include: Rubber raw materials, TPEs, fillers and their properties, as well as essential process technologies such as compounding, vulcanisation, rubber extrusion, injection moulding and simulation.

• As in past events, the DKT 2018 exhibition will feature a wide range of interesting new developments in fields of rubber processing machinery, raw materials, chemicals & additives, testing & analysis as well as new advances in industrial software. Exhibitor information will be posted on a special DKT Preview page on the ERJ website.

*In our coverage of this event in the print edition of ERJ May/June issue, we wrongly stated that this was an IRC-organised conference. We apologise for this error and and confusion caused.