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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

high rubbery nature

English answer:

highly-rubbery nature

Added to glossary by Yvonne Becker
Jan 10, 2010 00:45
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

high rubbery nature

English Tech/Engineering Materials (Plastics, Ceramics, etc.)
I´m proofreading the introduction of a paper on biopolymers to be published in an international scientific journal.

"Synthetic hydrogels have the potential to overcome some of the limitations of natural hydrogels. A synthetic hydrogel with potential as bone TE carrier is poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). It has been used for several medical applications, because of its excellent biocompatibility, **high rubbery nature** and chemical stability. It has not commonly been researched for bone applications, but has been extensively studied for other types of TE applications [ref]. PVA hydrogels can provide a biologically neutral, yet structurally dynamic and controllable support matrix. "

A bit of technical background:

Polymers are viscoelastic materials, which means that they can behave either as rubber or as a glass or show a combined behavior depending on the temperature and the time the materials have to react to a given stress. In this case, the author wants to express that PVA behaves more like a rubber than as a glass (at the human body temperature, as these materials are aimed to be used as biomaterials).

The expression as such, doesn't seem to be common. My guess is that I will have to change the adverb, but any suggestions that sound natural in English and stay true to the meaning are welcome.

Thank you very much in advance for your suggestions.
Responses
3 +1 highly-rubbery nature; properties closely resembling those of rubber
3 +1 flexible resilience
3 +1 rubberiness/elasticity
3 "elasticity" + 'bounciness' = elastic deformation
3 springiness
2 highly rubber-like characteristics

Discussion

Stephanie Ezrol Jan 10, 2010:
http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/doc.asp?CID=11403&DID=202760
This is a web document under the title "Symposium LL: Bioinspired Polymer Gels and Networks." Perhaps it will help or give you some leads to rember the term you are looking for.
B D Finch Jan 10, 2010:
Why not highly rubbery? Having just negotiated some snowy hairpin bends, I'd point out another property of rubber: grip. I wouldn't have wanted glass tyres today. The only thing that looks at all problematic with the original phrase is the use of "high" rather than "highly".
Yvonne Becker (asker) Jan 10, 2010:
rubbery My problem is not with the term "rubbery" or "rubber-like". This concept implies a lot of properties and mentioning just one of them will change the whole meaning of the original. I learnt all the associated materials science in English and can't remember how to say it. I am just "blocked". As it will appear in a scientific journal, I have to be careful.
Carol Gullidge Jan 10, 2010:
things rubbery, to Shera No doubt, but that doesn't alter the fact that "rubberiness" consists of more than 1 specific property. Bounciness and elasticity are 2 different things, even if they do often go together! Chewing gum has elasticity/stretchability, yet it doesn't usually bounce (quite the opposite!) - despite being based on rubber latex. But whether this is the result of another property of freshly-chewed gum (self-adhesiveness) is another matter...!
Shera Lyn Parpia Jan 10, 2010:
Carol, I think that anything rubbery would visibly bounce if there was enough of it. The elastic in clothing is simply in such fine strips that we can't see its bounciness, but it's there.
Carol Gullidge Jan 10, 2010:
properties of rubber I would have thought that elasticity (ie, stretchability and the ability to return to its former state) and 'bounciness' were 2 separate properties. After all, the elastic in certain items of clothing doesn't bounce, yet it is still elastic!
Gillian Scheibelein Jan 10, 2010:
rubbery nature = elasticity From the material science and chemical points of view, the property characterising a rubber is its elasticity (which governs its resilience and bounciness.....etc)
British Diana Jan 10, 2010:
elasticity? What about elasticity, is that something different?

Responses

+1
8 hrs
Selected

highly-rubbery nature; properties closely resembling those of rubber

The 2nd is a bit long, but expresses what is being said

I'd stick to 'rubber' properties rather than trying to pick out any specific ones (flexibility, resilience (bounciness?)), as we don't know in which specific way this material behaves like rubber

And I'd use 'properties' rather than 'characteristics' in this sort of context
Peer comment(s):
agree Michal Berski : highly rubber-like?
1 hr
many thanks Michal!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot!"
40 mins

highly rubber-like characteristics

I think this would be more natural and smooth.
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+1
4 hrs

flexible resilience

I think this might fit your need to express a rubber quality, both in the rebound quality of rubber (resilience) and the flexible (certainly not glass like) quality of rubber. There a number of other examples using this expression in a medical materials context found when googling "flexible resilience" +medical
Example sentence:

Such devices are fabricated of material having a degree of flexible resilience, for example medical grade silicone rubber.

The distal end 26 of catheter tube 16 can comprise any type of material that provides flexible resilience, such as natural or synthetic rubber, flexible plastic, and so forth

Reference:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7506647.html

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/ja/ia.jsp?ia=US2006%2F029303&IA=US2006029303&DISPLAY=DESC

Peer comment(s):
agree juvera
6 hrs
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+1
8 hrs

rubberiness/elasticity

I reckon this is sufficient and conveys the concept fully. Translations often use more words than necessary. If you prefer, you could say "high degree of rubberiness".
see
http://www.google.it/search?hl=it&client=firefox-a&rls=org.m...

"high elasticity" is another option (a search gives several cases of the terms used interchangeably)
Peer comment(s):
agree Gillian Scheibelein : high degree of elasticity
53 mins
thanks!
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20 hrs

"elasticity" + 'bounciness' = elastic deformation

i think "good elastic deformability" is what you want :D
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22 hrs

springiness

not sure whether this is scientific enough and haven't currently got time to research, but if rubbery is to be used, it should be preceded by "highly"

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Note added at 22 hrs (2010-01-10 23:01:55 GMT)
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but other answers may be OK too - need to know which aspect of rubberiness is meant, I think
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