ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT: This work is focused on investigation of the influence of thermal aging on fatigue behavior of carbon black filled rubber compounds which have been based on Natural Rubber (NR), Butadiene Rubber (BR) and their blend with ratio 50/50. The thermal aging was performed in thermal chamber at varied temperatures 30, 70 and 110°C for 720 hours. Firstly, the influence of thermal aging on mechanical behavior under quasi-static tensile test followed by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) has been investigated. The fatigue behavior under sinusoidal waveform loading conditions has quantitatively been analyzed by using of dynamic testing equipment Tear and Fatigue Analyzer. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of thermal aging on the fatigue behavior of rubber based on varied rubber types to understand the relationship between the thermal degradative processes occurred in rubber matrix under thermal aging and fatigue life. From the experimental work it was concluded based on all used testing methods, that the presence of BR rubber enhances the resistance against thermal aging and thus could be used as an efficient component reducing the aging degradation in rubber blend systems.