Deformulation and Reverse Engineering

With years of rubber and plastics experience, our experts utilize material deformulation and reverse engineering to suit a range of needs: 

• Competitive analysis of the materials or components within a competitor's product, to determine any differences and how this could affect performance
• Material supplier checks to ensure that the material received is the same material as in the original sample
• Quality assessment and control of your material, monitoring its formulation over a period of time - providing assurance of its continued quality 
• Material specification support to assist with decisions surrounding what material to specify for your product

Smithers has the capabilities to analyze a broad range of materials: 

• Cured or uncured elastomers
• Thermoplastic composites
• Thermosets and composite materials and products
• Polymer additives and compounding ingredients
• Other polymer based products including;
  • Coatings
  • Adhesives
  • Inks
  • Paints

The analytical techniques used by Smithers are regularly audited to ensure we meet our internal quality standards and are reviewed regularly to include new technologies and the latest analytical developments.

Principal techniques currently include: 

• Spectroscopic - (FT-IR, Infrared spectroscopy, UV/Vis Spectroscopy)
• Chromatographic (HPLC, GPC, GC, GC-MS, ICP)
• Thermal (DSC, TGA, DMTA, Thermal Diffusivity)
• A range of wet chemistry and other techniques.