3.3 TECHNICAL GRADES AND BASIS FOR CLASSIFICATION BY ASTM D 2227 This standard covers the technical grades of natural rubber, It should be un- derstood that defined grades referenced in this standard are all “block” rub- bers shipped in shrink-wrapped units or wooden crates, 36 bales per unit or 30 bales per unit. Visually graded rubbers, such as ribbed smoked sheets or pale crepes are not covered by this standard. Table 3.2 shows this classifica~ tion, The five grades are technically specified rubber TSR L, TSR CV (constant viscosity) regular 5 grade, regular 10 grade, and TSR 20. The grades differ by percent dirt content, plasticity retention index and Mooney viscosity. The designation of 5, 10 or 20 is based on a percent dirt al- lowed in each grade. The TSR five is < 0.05 % dirt, TSR10 can have < 0.10% dirtand TSR 20 is < 0.20 % dirt. The most common grade used in the United States today is the TSR 20. The TSR 20 could be SIR 20, SMR 20, STR20, SVR20, SPR20 or SAR20 (which stand for standard Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Phillipine or African rubber). In reality, if one measures the dirt from a typical lot received TABLE 3.2—Technical Grades and Basis for Classification. RUBBER GRADE GRADE ‘GRADE GRADE GRADE GRADE PROPERTY L cvs 5 10 20 Dirt, retained on 45 0.050 0.050 0.050 0.100 0.200 um sieve, % max, Ash, % max 0.60 0.60 0.60 075 1.0 Volatile matter, % max 0.80 0.80 080 0.80 080 Nitrogen, °% max 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60 60 Initial plasticity, min 30 : 30 30 30 Plasticity retention 6 60 ot 50 40 index, min Color index, max 60 Mooney viscosity’ 605 “Skim subber isnot permitted in any grade, and Grades L, CV, ana must be presuced from inten- tionally coagulated latex ther Mooney ranges of Grade CV are available, CV ~ 50 «Sand CV ~ 70 « 5. CV without suffix is thhe 60 » 5 as showre in the tablein the United States, the dirt content is < 0.1 %, By the Green Book, standards, these grades and all CV and “CV five” should be “latex grades.” It means that the starting material is from controlled coagulated latex, which in practice means that the latex collected from the trees (lield) is coagulated by adding proper amounts of formic or acetic acid to form a processable coagulum. Re- cently there has been a move under way from the producing counties to al- low regular clean cup as the starting material for the TSR five. Producers claim that there is no difference whether the rubber is produced from cup lump or latex, as long as the dirt requirements are met. This debate is still on- going at ISO, where the consuming countries try to maintain the original standard where all TSR five grades are produced from latex. This debate will no doubt be continued at the future International Standards Organization (ISO) meetings The SCV 60 isa latex grade mbher where the viscosity iscontrolled to 60 * 5 Mooney units. This control is achieved by adding small mounts of anti- branching agents into liquid latex before coagulation. These agents are neu- tral sulfates, where the most common in use is hydroxyl amine neutral sul- fate. In addition to the 5CV 60, there are also viscosity controlled customers for such grades as 5CV 70 and SCV50. The table is self explanatory and summarizes well this standard which is also a specification.