1. Different blending concepts

Although the term "mixing" is still used in the industry, particularly by rubber manufacturers, it is becoming increasingly common to use the term "blending" to designate both the mixing operation and its result. This is what the latest edition of the Larousse recommends, and it is the terminology used in this article. However, we will refer to the action or operation of mixing to remove any ambiguity where necessary.

As indicated in the introduction, the general term "mixing" covers two very different operations, illustrated in the figure 1