Akron Rubber Development Laboratory is an independent problem solving laboratory servicing the rubber, plastics and latex industries. ARDL also offers symposia and lecture series to help your engineers better understand fundamental issues involved in designing and testing polymer products.

RDL offers a wide range of testing services. From general standardized testing techniques to customer designed engineering, physical and chemical experiments, ARDL can generate information you need to make important decisions about your product.

Akron Rubber Development Laboratory, Inc. - Plastics Testing Akron Rubber Development Laboratory’s wealth of expertise, equipment, trained staff and library of information enables it to be your outsource Research and Development department, thus allowing you to focus on your core business and remain technologically competitive.
In addition to their quality testing services, Akron Rubber Development Laboratory offers products such as industry reference materials , rheologic control compounds and aerospace material specification and rubber test plaques.
With a long history of providing assistance to the rubber industry, Akron Rubber Development Laboratory understands your needs and can solve your problems. Let ARDL help you to be compliant, competitive and on the cutting edge.

Test Media
Adhesives/Sealants; Inorganics; Chemicals; Coatings; Composites; Plastics; Polymers/Organics; Textiles

Services Offered
Materials Testing Services; Environmental Exposure (Climatics); Standards/Certification; Sunlight Exposure or Solar Simulation; Flammability

Test Methods
Ash Testing; AA; Chemical Extraction; Chromatography; ICP / LA-ICP; Infrared Spectroscopy; Mass Spec / RGA; Metallography/Microscopy; Property Testing; Rheology; SEM; Sieve; Thermal Analysis; Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX)

Applications / Industry
Food/Bev; Legal / Forensics; Automotive; Chemical; Military

Chemical Services / Analytical Testing

ARDL offers a full range of chemical services, from single compound identification to complete analysis and theoretical formula reconstruction.

ARDL Specializes in the Identification of:

• Competitors' Products
• Environmental Stress Cracking Failures
• Manufacturing Defects
• Process Aids and Flame Retardants
• Product Failures
• Surface Blooms on Rubber, Plastic and TPEs
• Unknown Materials, Blends and Contaminants
• UV Degradation
• Waxes, Ester Plasticizers and Oils

Testing Available at ARDL Includes:

• Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) & Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
• Extractables and Leachables Studies
• Formula Reconstruction (Reverse Engineering)
• High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
• Permeability (Permeation)
• Thermal Analytical Testing