New insights into mechanisms affecting the fracture-mechanical behavior of unfilled natural rubber

For elastomers, advanced experimental techniques have been applied to better understand the impact of (micro-)structural phenomena, e.g. strain-induced crystallization (SIC), on the macroscopic fracture-mechanical properties. In this study, the formation and orientation of crystallites formed by SIC in natural rubber (NR) have been investigated at non-uniaxial tension, in fact, in “pure-shear” geometry and at crack tips, using synchrotron wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS).