Lesson 2　History of Synthetic Rubber

New Words

Notes

[1] The ready availability of high quality plantation rubber facilitated the advances in production methods and product quality which catalyzed the development of better automobiles and their expanding reliance on rubber products. 高品质种植橡胶的随时可用，促进了生产方法和产品质量的进步，催化了更好的汽车工业的发展并扩大了其对橡胶产品的依赖。

[2] The governments of Germany and Russia, the military nations most susceptible to loss of natural rubber through naval blockade, instituted programs to develop synthetic alternatives. This was given additional impetus in the mid-1920s by a forced rise in rubber prices due to British restrictions on plantation production. 德国和俄罗斯这两个最容易因海军封锁而丧失天然橡胶的军事国家制定了开发(天然橡胶)合成替代品的计划。在20世纪20年代中期，由于英国对种植园生产的限制，橡胶价格受到强制上涨，给予(合成橡胶的生产)额外的推动力。

[3] Copolymerization of 1，3-butadiene with other monomers was pursued to obtain more easily processed and rubber-like products. In Germany this led within a few years to Buna S, a copolymer of butadiene and styrene, and Buna N, a copolymer of butadiene and acrylonitrile. 将1，3-丁二烯与其他单体共聚，以获得更容易加工的、更类似于橡胶的产品。在德国，丁二烯与苯乙烯的共聚物丁腈橡胶S、丁二烯与丙烯腈的共聚物丁腈橡胶N在几年之内得到了开发。

[4] By the time war broke out in 1939, both Germany and Russia could satisfy their rubber needs with reasonably satisfactory synthetic products. 到1939年战争爆发时，德国和俄罗斯都可以用相当令人满意的合成橡胶产品来满足他们的橡胶需求。

[5] By the end of the Second World War, compounding art and science had fully bridged the gap between elastomer and rubber product. 到第二次世界大战结束时，配合艺术和科学已经完全弥合了弹性体和橡胶产品之间的差距。

Exercises

1. Translate the following paragraph into Chinese.

Synthetic elastomers were first produced in Germany in the early 1930s with a world consumption of 2500 long tons. After World War Ⅱ in 1946, the world consumption of synthetic rubber had grown to 912400 long tons in comparison to 555000 long tons of natural rubber.

2. Put the following words and phrases into English.

合成的　　合成橡胶　　结构单元　　单体　　聚合

共聚物　　拉伸强度　　炭黑　　　　配合　　耐油橡胶

Rubber Appreciation

Rubber is a fascinating, marvelous material with a unique combination of properties. The compounder originates recipe to optimize one, several, or all of the rubber’s inherent capabilities to provide a compound that will be molded or formed into the desired useful marketable produce.

A rubber band is an example that utilizes the stretch nature of rubber. A tire tread needs to be primarily flexible and abrasive resistant. A special inner-liner of the tire has amazing resistance to air permeation while rubber boots need to be waterproof. These are only a few examples of the usefulness of rubber; the list is almost endless.

The compounder has to know what materials are available for his purpose. And regardless of how many years of experience he/she can rely on, there is never any end to the accumulation of new knowledge. Moreover, attention has already given to the recipe ingredients to achieve ease and safety of processing behavior of the compound during mixing, extrusion and calendaring in the factory prior to the forming, molding and curing of the product. Pemature scorch, set-up or curing during processing, must be avoided.

The historical account of compounding will provide a basis for what is to follow in the text and hopefully cultivate a sense of appreciation among the readers for the art and science of putting together recipe for product performance.

Words and Expressions