Dr. Karl Alfred Grosch (1923-2012) was a

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

industry scientist noted for his contributions to understanding tire

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of t ...

and abrasion. Dr. Grosch is the developer of the LAT 100 Abrasion tester that is used widely in the tire industry to evaluate the friction and wear properties of rubber compounds.

Personal

Grosch was born in , today An der Heide 11, 07387 Krölpa/Trannroda

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, on February 16, 1923, died July 15, 2012. Grosch served in the German military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was captured by the British as a prisoner of war.

Education

He received a B.S. (Special Physics) from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1958, and a Ph.D. (Science) from the school in 1963 under the supervision of Professor

David Tabor David Tabor (né Tabrisky), FRS (23 October 1913 – 26 November 2005) was a British physicist who was an early pioneer of tribology, the study of frictional interaction between surfaces, and well known for his influential undergraduate textboo ...

of Cambridge and L.R.G. Treloar of Manchester University with the title ''Friction and abrasion of rubber''.

Career

In 1955, Grosch started his career as a research assistant at the

MRPRA The Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre, originally known as the British Rubber Producers' Research Association, carries out research into rubber and is funded by the Malaysian government. Early years: as the British Rubber Producers Research Associa ...

, under

Adolf Schallamach Adolf Schallamach (1905–1997) was a scientist at the British Rubber Producers' Research Association noted for pioneering understanding of the mechanisms of rubber friction. He was one of only two electrical engineers ever to win the Charles Good ...

. Grosch helped establish that rolling friction and grip on dry roads are governed by the viscoelastic properties of rubber. In 1963, he was named principal scientific officer. In 1969, Grosch joined

Uniroyal The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemi ...

in Germany, working there until his retirement in 1988. After retirement, he developed the LAT 100 laboratory friction and abrasion tester, which is marketed by VMI Holland BV in the Netherlands.

Awards

Grosch received the 2007

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, and the 1997

Colwyn medal Colwyn was a local government district with borough status from 1974 to 1996, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered ...

from the

Institute of Materials The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and applicatio ...

External links

2007 Interview with Karl Grosch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosch, Karl A. 1923 births 2012 deaths Polymer scientists and engineers Scientists from Thuringia Tire industry people