Carbon-black-filled rubber stress analysis

In the original paper [47], the authors reported work on the uniaxial tension of plasticised poly(vinyl chloride), sulfur vulcanisates of butyl rubber, and polyisobutylene. Very successful predictions were made at extension ratios up to approximately five. Zapas and Craft [48] applied their formulation to multi-step stress relaxation and creep and recovery of both plasticised poly(vinyl chloride) and polyisobutylene. McKenna and Zapas applied a modified form of the model to the torsional deformation of PMMA [49]. McKenna and Zapas [50] have used the model in the analysis of the tensile behaviour of carbon-black-filled butyl rubbers. 

Although many interface models have been given so far, they are too qualitative and we can hardly connect them to the mechanics and mechanism of carbon black reinforcement of rubbers. On the other hand, many kinds of theories have also been proposed to explain the phenomena, but most of them deal only with a part of the phenomena and they could not totally answer the above four questions. The author has proposed a new interface model and theory to understand the mechanics and mechanism of carbon black reinforcement of rubbers based on the finite element method (FEM) stress analysis of the filled system, in journals and a book. In the new model and theory, the importance of carbon gel (bound rubber) in carbon black reinforcement of rubbers is emphasized repeatedly. Actually, it is not too much to say that the existence of bound rubber and its changeable and deformable characters depending on the magnitude of extension are the essence of carbon black reinforcement of rubbers. 

The new interface model and the concept for the carbon black reinforcement proposed by the author fundamentally combine the structure of the carbon gel (bound mbber) with the mechanical behavior of the filled system, based on the stress analysis (FEM). As shown in Figure 18.6, the new model has a double-layer stmcture of bound rubber, consisting of the inner polymer layer of the glassy state (glassy hard or GH layer) and the outer polymer layer (sticky hard or SH layer). Molecular motion is strictly constrained in the GH layer and considerably constrained in the SH layer compared with unfilled rubber vulcanizate. Figure 18.7 is the more detailed representation to show molecular packing in both layers according to their molecular mobility estimated from the pulsed-NMR measurement. 

The viscoelastic analysis for DMA requires that the sample be in the linear viscoelastic range. In practice, this means that the strain/stress behavior is independent of the strain/stress level. Unmodified polymers, such as PMMA and PC, which are amorphous, are not likely to exhibit strain-dependent behavior as long as the strain amplitude is kept below about 0.3%. However, certain filled materials, especially carbon black or sUica-filled rubbers, may... 

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