Wegu Manufacturing Laboratory

Originally a part of WEGU’s raw-material mixing complex, the Laboratory (“Lab”) allows WEGU to continuously enhance existing compounds, determine failure modes, test material performance, as well as develop entirely new compounds. Although large mixing facilities are no longer a part of WEGU due to an effort to focus company energies on its key manufacturing base, the Lab gives WEGU a competitive advantage over companies without dedicated research facilities. The Lab can be used to process and mix raw material into small batches of compound using a Banbury mixer. The resulting material can then be milled on-site and used to create molded samples in a small electric molding press. This electric press can also be used for prototyping parts and for small production runs to test products.

Once a part has been completed, the product can be run through a gamut of testing equipment.  With this equipment, a part can be tested against ozone aging, heat degradation, adhesion breakdown and for tear resistance, abrasion resistance, flame retardation, and load deflection. Mixes can also be tested for flow patterns under various forces using a rheometer.

Summary of Lab Offerings:

• Able to reverse engineer product offerings
• Offer customer unique compounds
• Can test ozone performance
• Can test flammability of material
• Can test for abrasion resistance
• Can supply load deflection results of products
• Test adhesion of rubber to different material (fabric, metal, ceramics)
• Can test tensile strength