About Rubber Couplings
Rubber couplings are used extensively in many industrial applications, especially with engines, mainly for their torsionally soft properties and damping effect on troublesome vibrations.
The Drawbacks of Rubber Couplings:
- Rubber materials used in these couplings are subject to degradation over time. As the material experiences cycles of compression and shear forces, heat is created, which breaks down the material structure. Eventually, the compliant material needs to be replaced.
- Large diameter and weight of rubber couplings … Since rubber is much weaker than steel, rubber is used on large diameters to minimize the forces it must handle in any given coupling. The large size may not be a problem in some applications, but in other applications, their size can make system integration difficult.
In many cases, Coupling Corp can replace rubber torsional couplings with a Quill Shaft Coupling to provide the right torsional stiffness for the application.