Technology Training Courses
Rapra runs an extensive programme of short technology-based training courses covering materials, product design, processing techniques and environmental considerations. Recognised by the Institute of Materials Continuing Professional Development scheme, they aim to enhance in-house skills, help in identifying problems and to recognise potential opportunities.

Concise expert review examines Adhesion to Fluoropolymers

23 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited Fluorinated polymers have a number of very useful properties such as excellent chemical resistance. However, they are usually difficult to bond without a pretreatment. The most effective methods to pretreat fully fluorinated polymers were developed in the 1950s.

Expert review discusses the science and technology of fluoroplastics

22 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited Fluoropolymers were discovered accidentally by Plunkett in 1938. He was working on freon and accidentally polymerised tetrafluoroethylene. The result was polytetrafluoroethylene, more commonly known as Teflon.

New edition of European Plastics & Rubber Directory

21 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited The European Plastics and Rubber Directory, now in its 17th year, is a unique directory that will keep your company in touch with the European plastics and rubber industry.

New fuel cells polymer bulletin

20 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited Fuel cells are growing rapidly in popularity and the abundance and diversity of research means it can be difficult to stay in touch with new developments.

Polymers to challenge silicon in providing electrical functionality

19 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited Polymers have always been essential components of many electronic devices and products and their sales are continuing to grow at well over 4% p.a. From their use in the fabrication of semiconductor chips and printed circuit boards, to their application in cables, connectors and equipment housings, polymeric materials play a vital role that cannot be achieved with any other materials.

New Guide advises best practice for low energy plastics processing

18 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited There are many reasons for wanting to improve your energy efficiency, however, the most compelling reason for the plastics processing industry is that wasting energy costs money.

Rapra Technology's Reflects International Response to REACH

17 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, a subsidiary of the US-based independent testing, consulting and contract research organisation, The Smithers Group, held its fifth RubberChem conference bringing together the international rubber chemicals industry to debate the issues at the heart of the industry.

New book explores practical use of additives in polymers

16 July 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited This book is designed as a practical text for use in the laboratories of the plastic producer and user industries and by others such as universities and institutions that are concerned with problems associated with additives and adventitious impurities in polymers.

REACH is coming and it’s here to stay

02 January 2007 - Rapra Technology Limited REACH is coming and it’s here to stay. Hailed at the most intrusive piece of legislation to hit the chemicals supply chain, its impact will be widespread and for the unprepared, potentially catastrophic.

Rapra Technology now actively seeking further opportunities to develop and regional support activities into mainland Europe

10 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Encouraged by the recent spectacular successes which the company has enjoyed in the European collaborative research arena, Rapra Technology is now actively seeking further opportunities to develop and expand its regional support activities into mainland Europe.

New Rapra handbook

09 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited The construction industry increasingly requires products that are cost effective and easy to use, to enable fast track application whilst achieving a high physical performance. Incorporating a polymer in a cementitious mix brings key advantages, particularly in terms of workability, abrasion and impact resistance, with the resulting physical and chemical properties dependent upon the nature of the polymer material and the quantity used in relation to the cement phase.

Rapra boosts online services for plastics and rubber

08 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and technology organisation, celebrates the New Year with the successful relaunch and redesign of its unique website for the plastics and rubber sectors.

High Performance Fillers

07 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Judging by the success of this year’s meeting, the second Rapra conference on High Performance Fillers seems to have achieved the difficult task of finding a niche in today’s crowded conference season.

Rapra to improve the industrial plastics extrusion process by the use of supercritical CO2

06 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test house, has secured 1.4 Million Euros of EU funding together with a 14 strong European consortium to improve the industrial plastics extrusion process by the use of supercritical CO2.

Wasting time and money trying to bond plastics?

05 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Bonding experts had a frequent complaint that joining is not considered until the product design is complete and materials have been specified. Sometimes clients don't even know which plastics they are working with as components are purchased ready-made. This leads to problems in selecting adhesives or the appropriate welding technology.

Rapra exploits expertise in food contact materials

04 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology is renowned for its expertise in testing and analysing plastics for safety in contact with food. Expert analytical staff such as John Sidwell, Keith Scott and Dr Martin Forrest, have over 15 years of experience in this field.

New report from Rapra discusses markets for Biodegradable Plastics

03 September 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Biodegradable polymers have experienced strong growth over the last three years and are set to make further inroads into markets traditionally dominated by conventional thermoplastics in future.

Surge of interest for scanning vibrating needle curemeter

31 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test house, reports a surge of interest for its own-invented Scanning Vibrating Needle Curemeter whose principal use is in monitoring the cure of foam and liquid polymers, right through from the liquid to the solid phase in liquid curing systems for polymers, paints and resins.

Rapra provides biocompostable standards and research

30 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, Europe's leading independent plastics and rubber research organisation, reports a significant growth in demand for its expertise associated with compostable materials.

Rapra tackles manual handling risks

29 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited A morning seminar on overcoming risks in manual handling in the plastics industry will be held at Rapra Technology, Europe's leading plastics and rubber test house and technical consultancy, on Thursday July 21 at Rapra's Shawbury headquarters, near Shrewsbury.

Rapra breaks the plastics design mould

28 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology delivered a successful ground-breaking conference in Berlin last week: The Art of Plastics Design, October 18th-19th, featured industry luminaries such as Sebastian Conran and David Humphries and succeeded in exploring the uncharted territory between the aesthetics of product design and the technology of polymer science.

Biodegradable polymers in medical applications

27 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test house, has secured 1.4 Million Euros of EU funding and assembled a consortium that will develop highly innovative supercritical fluid processing technology in order to make advanced multifunctional biodegradable polymer devices.

Rapra goes with the FreeFlow

26 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited The project is entitled FreeFlow and the aims of the work are to increase output extrusion rates, reduce processing temperatures and reduce energy consumption in the plastics extrusion process. The research project is being part financed by the European Commission under the sixth framework programme as a Collective Research supporting the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises and industrial associations in European research (Contract number: COLL-CT-2005-516225).

Polymers in automotive fuel containment

25 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited The first two papers outlined the difficult environment for fuel systems, with Ralf Grünbaum of Volkswagen describing the legal, environmental and customer requirements for fuel systems. The main influences on the Passat fuel system were described as mechanical wear, system temperatures, refuel ability, electrical discharge, ventilation, fuel supply, pressure, safety, environmental legislation (affecting emissions) and fuel composition. Current plastics used were HDPE, PA and POM, which of course raises the issues of joining different materials. Intertek Caleb Brett followed up with an outline of global variations in fuel composition.

Developments in European chemical legislation

24 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Chemical control measures in the EU are soon to be dramatically revised, and this new Rapra Review Report, entitled EU Regulation of Chemicals: REACH, sets the scene by describing the key facts of the existing measures and the objectives of the future chemicals policy: REACH.

Rapra helps set the Plast 06 agenda

23 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test centre, has places available at the expert polymer seminars taking place at the Plast06 exhibition in Milan Italy, from February 14, 2006. The Plast 06 organisers approached the Rapra Technology conference department last year and asked Rapra to put in place the seminar activity that will enhance the value and attraction of Italy's premier plastics exhibition.

Polymer Library just got cheaper

22 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Every researcher needs a fast and accurate source of information and the field of polymer science is growing at a tremendous pace. Company libraries have been shutting down as costs become paramount, but now hours are wasted every day trying to find key facts on the Internet.

Environmental law and the sustainable use of plastics

21 March 2006 - Rapra Technology Limited Over recent years a plethora of environmental legislation has been imposed on manufacturing industry. EuP, IPP, RoHS, and WEEE, are to name but some of those that directly impact on the manufacturing sectors that produce or use plastics materials in their products, resulting in companies being forced to rethink their materials sourcing, design and manufacturing practices.

New RECIPE for energy-saving in plastics launched by Faraday Plastics and Rapra Technology

08 April 2005 - Rapra Technology Limited A radical new programme for saving energy and associated cost in plastics processing is now underway in Europe.

Surge of interest for its own-invented Scanning Vibrating Needle Curemeter

28 March 2005 - Rapra Technology Limited Inventor Bryan Willoughby notes that 'the instrument's use is always evolving. Materials-based niches as diverse as cast elastomers, PU foam systems, thermosets, unsaturated polyesters, silicone and liquid rubber, epoxies, polysulphides, PVC plastisols...all of these chemicaly reactive polymer sectors,' says Willoughby, 'are now using the SVNC in different ways; producing all sorts of high abrasion products such as golf balls, automotive, aeropspace and defence industry components and all manner of adhesives and sealants.'

Rapra reviews SCF polymer processing research

28 February 2005 - Rapra Technology Limited Polymer Processing with Supercritical Fluids, a new Rapra Review Report, provides a comprehensive overview of the current research into the use of supercritical fluids (SCFs) in the polymer industry.

Rapra publishes two new reviews on rubber mixing and rubber bonding

17 February 2005 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra has just published two new Rapra Review Reports focusing on key aspects of manufacturing with rubber. No single adhesive can provide the needed levels of adhesion and environmental resistance to all polymers.

External gas assisted moulding saves 15% energy

04 October 2004 - Rapra Technology Limited A programme of energy consumption trials has concluded that significant savings of up to 15% in energy consumption are possible using external gas assisted moulding instead of standard moulding.

Monitoring of polymer cure from liquid to solid

14 September 2004 - Rapra Technology Limited Rapra Technology reports a surge of interest for its Scanning Vibrating Needle Curemeter, whose principal use is in monitoring the cure of foam and liquid polymers - from liquid to solid phases in liquid curing systems for polymers, paints and resins.