Elastomer resiliency

Resilient materials such as rubber and some plastics may be useful in certain applications, especially under conditions of low cavitation intensities. However, such materials are subject to disbondment at the metal and elastomer interface at high cavitation intensities, even if the exposure is brief. 

The elastomer compression coupling provides both tuning and damp ing to the system. In some cases, the two functions interact, that is, the stiffness K or damping C may be a function of the other. The elastomers are torsionally softer than the metal-metal resilients, but will introduce higher levels of damping into the system. 

Vulcanisation can be effected by diamines, polyamines and lead compounds such as lead oxides and basic lead phosphite. The homopolymer vulcanisate is similar to butyl rubber in such characteristics as low air permeability, low resilience, excellent ozone resistance, good heat resistance and good weathering resistance. In addition the polyepichlorohydrins have good flame resistance. The copolymers have more resilience and lower brittle points but air impermeability and oil resistance are not so good. The inclusion of allyl glycidyl ether in the polymerisation recipe produces a sulphur-curable elastomer primarily of interest because of its better resistance to sour gas than conventional epichlorhydrin rubbers. 

The thermoplastic polyamide elastomers may be considered as premium grade materials available in a wide range of hardness values with, in some instances, very good heat resistance. Particular properties of interest are the flexibility and impact resistance at low temperatures and the good dynamic properties and related resilience, hysteresis and alternating flexural properties. 

Vulcanised rubbers possess a range of very desirable properties such as resilience, resistance to oils, greases and ozone, flexibility at low temperatures and resistance to many acids and bases. However, they require careful (slow) processing and they consume considerable amounts of energy to facilitate moulding and vulcanisation. These disadvantages led to the development of thermoplastic rubbers (elastomers). These are materials which exhibit the desirable physical characteristics of rubber but with the ease of processing of thermoplastics. 

Natural rubber was the only polymer for elastomer production until the advent of synthetics. Natural rubber, however, continues to maintain its competitive edge due mainly to the gain in properties such as high resilience, low hysteresis, low heat buildup, and excellent tack with mechanical properties achieved through the process of vulcanization [114-115]. The industry is said to be self-sufficient with a good technological base and is expected to compete successfully with synthetics because of the edge in properties mentioned above [116,117]. 

TPEs are materials that possess, at normal temperatures, the characteristic resilience and recovery from the extension of crosslinked elastomers and exhibit plastic flow at elevated temperatures. They can be fabricated by the usual techniques such as blow molding, extrusion, injection molding, etc. This effect is associated with certain interchain secondary valence forces of attraction, which have the effect of typical conventional covalent crosslinks, but at elevated temperatures, the secondary... 

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPES), as the name indicates, are plastic polymers with the physical properties of rubbers. They are soft, flexible, and possess the resilience needed of rubbers. However, they are processed like thermoplastics by extrusion and injection molding. 

A summary of the chemical and abrasion resistances, and approximate operational temperature ranges of elastomers is given in Table 18.16. Further details of specific chemical resistances are given in Table 18.17. The maximum temperature of use will always be dependent on the chemical conditions prevailing. Abrasion resistance can be affected by the chemical environment if the exposed surface properties are changed by adsorption or chemical attack. The rate of material loss by abrasion will also vary according to temperature as the resilience etc. is dependent on prevailing temperature conditions. 

FIGURE 9.18 (continued) (b) Resilience measurements of elastomers. Samples of chlorobutyl rubber (CIIR), polybutadiene rubber (BR), and cross-linked recombinant resilin. (From Elvin, C.M., Carr, A.G., Huson, M.G., Maxwell, J.M., Pearson, R.D., Vuocolol, T., Liyou, N.E., Wong, D.C.C., Merritt, D.J., and Dixon, N.E., Nature, 437, 999, 2005.)... 

Polyurethane-based thermoplastic elastomers are extensively used in applications requiring physical resilience and chemical resistance. In addition to their elasticity, they also exhibit vibration damping, abrasion, tear, and cut resistance. 

The study of the response of elastomers to forces which produce changes of motion in them. See Heat Build-up, Hysteresis and Resilience. 

Polyurethane multiblock copolymers of the type described by Eqs. 2-197 and 2-198 constitute an important segment of the commercial polyurethane market. The annual global production is about 250 million pounds. These polyurethanes are referred to as thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) (trade names Estane, Texin). They are among a broader group of elastomeric block copolymers referred to as thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). Crosslinking is a requirement to obtain the resilience associated with a rubber. The presence of a crosslinked network prevents polymer chains from irreversibly slipping past one another on deformation and allows for rapid and complete recovery from deformation. 

Because of its chemical inertness, no direct way of curing poly(thiocarbonyl fluoride) has been found. However, creep has been reduced and strength at elevated temperatures improved by milling into the polymer a free-radical generator, such as dicumyl peroxide or azobisisobutyronitrile, and a free-radical acceptor, such as N,N -m-phenylenebismaleimide or triacryloylhexahydro-s-triazine, and curing with heat and pressure (65). A better method is to mill in divinylbenzene and a small amount of benzoyl peroxide and cure with heat and pressure (66). The divinylbenzene forms a crosslinked matrix that mechanically traps poly(thio-carbonyl fluoride) molecules. Since the elastomer is in effect filled with poly(di-vinyl benzene), the final composition is less resilient than untreated poly(thio-carbonyl fluoride). 

Elastomer Specific gravity Hardness, Shore A Tensile strength,0 MPad Elongation,0 % Resilience Compression e set Impermeability e to gases... 

The nonterminating nature of living anionic polymerization allows the synthesis of block copolymers,480,481 which are useful thermoplastic elastomers. They have many properties of rubber (softness, flexibility, resilience) but in contrast to rubber can be processed as thermoplastics 482,483 Block copolymers can be manufactured by polymerizing a mixture of two monomers or by using sequential polymerization. 

It is impossible to list representative properties for the Reaction-Injection-Molded polyurethane structural foams, because their properties can be varied over a wide range depending on the specific application. The foams can be very tough, resilient, blown elastomers or highly rigid structural foams. Furthermore, very recent develop-... 

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