Effect of Carbon Black on the Mechanical Properties of Elastomers

Abstract

Abstract The strain-amplification concept developed by Guth and Gold can predict the effect of carbon black loading on the mechanical properties of elastomers, provided that the experimental conditions and the samples correspond to the assumptions made in the derivation of the Guth-Gold equation, namely: a) Any artifacts arising from dynamic testing in tension have to be considered and eliminated by the proper analysis. b) Samples have to be prestretched prior to testing to break up particle agglomerations and to eliminate any possible entanglement slippage. c) Spherical particles have to be used or Medalia's occluded volume concept has to be applied for fillers with high structure. d) Hysteresis properties are dependent upon the square of the strain-amplification factor. e) Viscoelastic effects on the shape and level of stress-strain curves have to be eliminated.