Vehicles have come a long way in the last few decades. Whether the family car, or a racing bike, the materials that are used for these vehicles are changing, and more and more innovations are meaning that as well as improving safety, new materials and ideas can help us with a number of things when we are using a vehicle.
Despite all of these modern new inventions, some things remain an integral part of a vehicle’s design – one of these is one of the oldest materials ever to be used by humans – rubber. Rubber was first used centuries ago in South America. The native people who lived around the Amazon basin knew that a particular tree, Hevea Brasiliensis (commonly known as the rubber tree) could provide them with a substance that we now know as rubber.
They were able to extract rubber from the tree using a process called rubber tapping and it was used to create all kinds of things, from their footwear to rubber balls which were actually used ceremonially.
Nowadays, rubber is a material that is still extremely useful to us and has many different uses. This naturally obtained rubber is still used, as well as the many types of rubber which scientists have created to have a range of special properties. The uses are far and wide, and vehicles are no exception.
What rubber is particularly good at is absorbing shock – so it reduces the vibrations that naturally occur from travelling along a road at high speed! Rubber components are made by companies like this UK rubber moulding company https://www.meadex.co.uk/rubber-moulding and it is done by using heat and pressure to get the rubber to mould into a particular shape. Once this is done, it can be fitted to various parts of the vehicle. This protects both the driver and the materials in the vehicle itself from being damaged by the road vibrations.
Just a few of the vehicle parts that are made from rubber include, the tyres, the bumper, seals around doors and windows and even the air bags. The use of rubber in a vehicle is all about safety and comfort, and it is a material that is extremely important for vehicles, even in this modern day and age!
