Thermoplastic elastomers tensile properties

Strength-Temperature Relations. One of the key properties of thermoplastic elastomers is their resistance to elevated temperatures. Figures 15 and 16 show the effect of temperature on the tensile strength of the two types of block copolymers. 

Of prime interest are the tensile properties summarized in Table 4, and typical of stress-strain curves exhibited by thermoplastic elastomers. The elongation and strength at break were measured above 1000% and 50 MPA, respectively. Both the tensile modulus and the stress at yield increased by increasing the PCL relative content whereas, as expected, the ultimate elongation at break slightly decreased. 

Figure 15.4 gives the stress-strain diagrams for a typical fiber, plastic, and elastomer and the average properties for each. The approximate relative area under the curve is fiber, 1 elastomers, 15 thermoplastics, 150. Coatings and adhesives, the two other types of end-uses for polymers, will vary considerably in their tensile properties, but many have moduli generally between elastomers and plastics. They must have some elongation and are usually of low crystallinity. 

Urethanes are processed as rubber-like elastomers, cast systems, or thermoplastic elastomers. The elastomer form is mixed and processed on conventional mbber mills and internal mixers, and can be compression, transfer, or injection molded. The liquid prepolymers are cast using automatic metered casting machines, and the thermoplastic pellets are processed like all thermoplastic materials on traditional plastic equipment. The unique property of the urethanes is ultrahigh abrasion resistance in moderately high Shore A (75—95) durometers. In addition, tear, tensile, and resistance to many oils is very high. The main deficiencies of the urethanes are their resistance to heat over 100°C and that shear and sliding abrasion tend to make the polymers soft and gummy. 

Rubber, vulcanized or thermoplastic Determination of tensile stress-strain properties Standard test methods for vulcanized rubber and thermoplastic elastomers-tension... 

Polysulfide resins combine with epoxy resins to provide adhesives and sealants with excellent flexibility and chemical resistance. These adhesives bond well to many different substrates. Tensile shear strength and elevated-temperature properties are low. However, resistance to peel forces and low temperatures is very good. Epoxy polysulfides have good adhesive properties down to -100°C, and they stay flexible to -65°C. The maximum service temperature is about 50 to 85°C depending on the epoxy concentration in the formulation. Temperature resistance increases with the epoxy content of the system. Resistance to solvents, oil and grease, and exterior weathering and aging is superior to that of most thermoplastic elastomers. 

The mechanical and thermal properties of a range of poly(ethylene)/po-ly(ethylene propylene) (PE/PEP) copolymers with different architectures have been compared [2]. The tensile stress-strain properties of PE-PEP-PE and PEP-PE-PEP triblocks and a PE-PEP diblock are similar to each other at high PE content. This is because the mechanical properties are determined predominantly by the behaviour of the more continuous PE phase. For lower PE contents there are major differences in the mechanical properties of polymers with different architectures, that form a cubic-packed sphere phase. PE-PEP-PE triblocks were found to be thermoplastic elastomers, whereas PEP-PE-PEP triblocks behaved like particulate filled rubber. The difference was proposed to result from bridging of PE domains across spheres in PE-PEP-PE triblocks, which acted as physical crosslinks due to anchorage of the PE blocks in the semicrystalline domains. No such arrangement is possible for the PEP-PE-PEP or PE-PEP copolymers [2]. 

As to Its other characteristics, styrene-butadlene-caprolactone (S-B-CL) trlblock terpolymer with high butadiene content behaves much like a thermoplastic elastomer, with raw tensile strength equal to and ozone resistance better than S-B-S type copolymer (3). The Impact-resistant resin by blending 25 parts of S-B-CL trlblock with 75 parts of styrene/acrylonltrlle (SAN) copolymer resembles ABS type material In such properties as tensile strength, flexural modulus, oil resistance, and transparency (4). 

Duvdevani(40) have been directed at modification of ionomer properties by employing polar additives to specifically interact or plasticize the ionic interactions. This plasticization process is necessary to achieve the processability of thermoplastic elastomers based on S-EPDM. Crystalline polar plasticizers such as zinc stearate can markedly affect ionic associations in S-EPDM. For example, low levels of metal stearate can enhance the melt flow of S-EPDM at elevated temperatures and yet improve the tensile properties of this ionomer at ambient temperatures. Above its crystalline melting point, ca. 120°C, zinc stearate is effective at solvating the ionic groups, thus lowering the melt viscosity of the ionomer. At ambient temperatures the crystalline additive acts as a reinforcing filler. 

At this point, we had the first four of the seven characteristic features of A-B-A thermoplastic elastomers, as shown in the box. That is, we were completely confident that we had a three-block polymer, rubbery behavior with high tensile strength in the unvulcanized state, and also complete solubility. We concluded from these properties that these polymers were two-phase systems. We then generated the essentials of the two-phase, domain theory and visualized the physical structure illustrated schematically in Figure 1. We also visualized applications in footwear, in injection-molded items, and in solution-based adhesives. Positive confirmation of the two-phase structure quickly followed, by detection of two separate glass transition temperatures, as well as observation of the thermoplasticlike reversibility of bulk- and... 

This discovery culminated in the commercial production and the announcement (41) in 1965 of thermoplastic elastomers from block polymers of styrene and butadiene (S-B-S) and of styrene and isoprene (S-I-S). To rubber scientists and technologists the most outstanding property of S-B-S and S-I-S was the unvulcanized tensile strength compared to that of vulcanized NR and vulcanized SBR carbon black stocks. Stress-strain curves, to break, of these latter materials are compared to that of S-B-S in Figure 2. It was pointed out that the high strength of S-B-S must be due to physical crosslinks. 

Tensile behavior is of primary importance when considering the properties of a thermoplastic elastomer. The stress-strain dependencies for the 3-arm star PBA-PMMA block copolymers listed in Table 3 are shown in Figure 8. The data were recorded at room temperature and with drawing rate of 5 mm/min. 

The microstructure and stereoblock distribution peculiar of polypropenes produced with this class of catalysts imparts thermoplastic elastomeric properties to the polymers. Thermoplastic elastomers or elastoplasts (TPEs) owe their elastomeric properties of resiliency and high tensile strength to physical cross-linking (formation of hard domains in a soft matrix) due to the presence of short, crystallizable... 

Commercial IPNs have been developed to combine useful properties of two or more polymer systems. For example, high levels of silicone have been combined with the thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) based on Shells Kraton styrene-ethylene/butadiene-styrene TPE and Monsantos Santoprene olefin TPE. These IPN TPEs are said to provide the biocompatibility and release properties of silicone with tear and tensile strength up to five times greater than medical-grade silicone. Thermal and electronic properties and elastic recovery are also improved. 

The discovery of living cationic polymerization has provided methods and technology for the synthesis of useful block copolymers, especially those based on elastomeric polyisobutylene (Kennedy and Puskas, 2004). It is noteworthy that isobutylene can only be polymerized by a cationic mechanism. One of the most useful thermoplastic elastomers prepared by cationic polymerization is the polystyrene-f -polyisobutylene-(>-polystyrene (SIBS) triblock copolymer. This polymer imbibed with anti-inflammatory dmgs was one of the first polymers used to coat metal stents as a treatment for blocked arteries (Sipos et al., 2005). The SIBS polymers possess an oxidatively stable, elastomeric polyisobutylene center block and exhibit the critical enabling properties for this application including processing, vascular compatibility, and biostability (Faust, 2012). As illustrated below, SIBS polymers can be prepared by sequential monomer addition using a difunctional initiator with titanium tetrachloride in a mixed solvent (methylene chloride/methylcyclohexane) at low temperature (-70 to -90°C) in the presence of a proton trap (2,6-dt-f-butylpyridine). To prevent formation of coupled products formed by intermolecular alkylation, the polymerization is terminated prior to complete consumption of styrene. These SIBS polymers exhibit tensile properties essentially the same as those of... 

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