Manufacturing of new elastomeric composites: Mechanical properties, chemical and physical analysis

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

7-4-2014

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Abstract

Filler-reinforced vulcanized rubber and its blends are frequently used for engineering applications for over a century. Traditional applications include tires, seals, bushings, and engine mounts. The rubbers for tire manufacturing must have high elasticity and frictional properties as well as the high load bearing capacity. Conforming to these needs, rubbers are vulcanized by various materials such as sulphur, carbon black, accelerators, and retardants in different conditions. The reactivity of sulphur vulcanization and physical properties of the final product are affected by the chemical structure, molecular weight, and conformation of the base elastomers. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of accelerator-vulcanizing agent system and the vulcanization temperature on the mechanical and aging properties of vulcanizates based on Natural rubber/Polybutadiene rubber (NR/BR) compounds. This preliminary study will allow optimizing the composition for improving the mechanical properties and understanding the damage behavior. NR/BR based composites with different vulcanization temperatures and curing systems were characterized. The mechanical properties investigated were tensile strength, elongation at break, tensile modulus at 100 % (M100) and at 300 % (M300) deformation. Hardness (Shore A) and molecular mass of the samples were also determined. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the microstructure of the fracture surfaces.

Publication Title

Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series

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