At What Level Is a Raw Rubber Source Change Considered Fully Validated?

Four-Level Breakdown

Level R (Raw Rubber): Mooney viscosity, Po, PRI, dirt, ash, volatile matter, nitrogen, and color—to confirm whether the lot itself meets specifications and is consistent.

Level C (Compound): mastication time, compound Mooney viscosity, scorch, cure curve, dispersion, and dump temperature—to confirm whether processing remains stable in the customer’s recipe.

Level V (Vulcanizate): hardness, tensile strength, elongation, modulus, tear strength, compression set, aging, and rebound—to confirm whether the material’s fundamental properties are equivalent or improved.

Level P (Finished Product): dynamic stiffness, fatigue, adhesion, fender reaction force and energy absorption, hose burst pressure, bearing shear, etc.—to confirm whether the customer’s end product truly meets requirements.

Decision Criteria & Boundaries

Results fall into four categories: Pass (proceed to small-scale commercial trial), Conditional Pass (continue validation), Technical Pass but Commercially Non-viable (retain technical qualification without switching), and Fail (discontinue this combination).

The smallest unit of failure is "factory × grade × recipe × product." A single failure must not be extrapolated to invalidate the entire grade; conversely, approval of the raw rubber grade does not automatically qualify the finished product.