Grinding of ethylene–propylene–diene monomer vulcanizates

Abstract

The grinding under the action of shear deformations of vulcanizates of oil-filled ethylene–propylene–diene elastomer cured by a sulfur-based system up to different degrees of cross-linking was studied. Monodisperse powders with a predominant fraction of particle sizes 0.315–0.63 mm were obtained. The effects of the cross-link density of the original vulcanizate on the content of sol fraction and the cross-link density of the rubber powder were estimated. The possibility of producing molding materials from rubber powders with enhanced rigidity using the method of high-temperature sintering was shown. The dependence of the structure and properties of molding materials on the parameters of rubber powders was studied. The mechanisms of the grinding and high-temperature sintering are proposed.