Rubber weather resistance tests

This chapter deals with ageing processes of HDPE geomembranes, with their durability and the resulting service lives. Implicitly, statements on material resistance and functional reserves are always implied. Explicit statements about resistances of HDPE geomembranes to individual influences (chemical resistance, resistance to thermo-oxidative degradation, resistance to stress crack, resistance to weathering, biological resistance) have been made in Chap. 3 in connection with the respective resistance test methods. A concise summary of durability and resistance of plastics and rubber is published by (Dolezel 1978). 

Weathering Resistance Prediction of service life, although one of the most important areas of testing, is probably the most uncertain. Cable jackets of synthetic rubber used in the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line in Northern Canada in the 1950s were forecast to have a 20-year lifetime. Most are stiU in service. Similar synthetic rubber wire coverings were used at that time for automotive wire harness when... 

The main apparent technical problems posed in relation with these types of potential noise barriers would be their noise abatement capability, structural performance, fire resistance, weatherability, chemical activity, and environmental effects. To assess the quality of new products of such materials, a series of mechanical, noise abatement, and flammability tests should be performed on a number of samples from the panels made of recycled rubber products. The primary function of these panels, i.e., their noise abatement capability is among the most important aspect of their performance. 

In addition to the weathering tests for elastomers described in Section 2.2, testing ozone resistance is significant for rubber products. Here, parts molded from rubber are stored statically (tensile strain) or dynamically (alternating strain) in an ozone chamber at a specified strain, temperature, humidity, and ozone concentration. Subsequently, their ozone resistance is evaluated based on the resulting crack formation. 

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