Investigation of different influences on the fatigue behaviour of industrial rubber blends

Abstract

Rubbers are used in a wide range of applications which often includes cyclic loading. It is very important to know how long rubber parts can withstand those loadings. Therefore, the fatigue life and the crack growth behaviour of different industrial rubber blends are investigated and the influence of different load parameters is considered. In terms of the mechanical load the load ratio, maximum load, waveform and frequency of the load are varied. Rubber shows a distinctive heat build-up under cyclic loading which leads to higher temperature of the sample. The higher the frequency of the cyclic load the higher is the temperature of the sample. The connection between frequency, sample temperature and fatigue behaviour is investigated. The thermal load is considered also in terms of the ambient temperature. The used rubber blends are made to fulfil specific requirements and show very differing behaviours. Therefore, the testing procedure must be adapted for every type of requirement profile.