ABSTRACT
A proposal for predicting the service life of a sealant assembly is made. It requires:
the knowledge of the mechanical response of the polymer subjected to a tensile loading,
the evolution of the polymer rheology depending on the degradation processes encountered during ageing of the sealant,
modelling of the behaviour of the assembly for a given physical state of the polymer working under various loads as in service life conditions.
Artificial weathering tests with cyclic movements imposed on the sealants were carried out to simulate natural weathering in three climates.An important result: the permanent stress imposed on the sealants is an accelerating factor. Good results were obtained by modelling to explain the rupture of a bonded assembly.
