Characterization of the vibrational damping loss factor and viscoelastic properties of ethylene-propylene rubbers reinforced with micro-scale fillers

Physical Properties of Slide-Ring Material Reinforced Ethylene Propylene Diene Rubber Composites

High-damping rubber composites were prepared by mixing ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) with slide-ring (SR) materials using a two-roll mill, followed by a compression molding technique. SR material has a novel supramolecular structure with unique softness and slidable crosslink junctions. The mechanical strength, thermal stability, compression set property, and damping performance of the composites were investigated. The use of the high damping SR phase dispersed in the EPDM matrix displayed improved physical properties and damping performance compared to those of virgin rubber. As SR content increases in the composites, the damping factor of SR/EPDM blends becomes higher at room temperature. In addition to this, the SR composites showed excellent improvements in the compression set properties. The composites showed a compression set improvement of 35–38% compared to virgin EPDM. These improvements are due to the “pulley effect” of slide-ring materials. Therefore, these materials present a robust platform for making novel elastomer composites for high-performance damping and sealing applications.

Incorporation of elastomer into poly(ether ether ketone): an attempt to improve the damping factor

The incorporation of an elastomer phase into a poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) matrix was carried out using two different processing methods (melt blending (MB) and dry blending) to improve the damping factor (tan δ) of the composite with a minimal change in the PEEK stiffness. A cross-linked fluoroelastomer (CFE) was carefully chosen according to its high glass transition temperature ( Tα), high thermal stability and high modulus. The blends were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), modified Oberst test, flexural test and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimeter. According to SEM micrographs, an original well-dispersed PEEK-elastomer composite was obtained. The tan δ of the materials was evaluated using DMTA and modified Oberst test. Both techniques indicate that the incorporation of 5–20 wt% of CFE fine powders only slightly increased the tan δ of the material. Moreover, a decrease in flexural modulus and thermal stability of the blends was detected when there was an increase in the CFE content. Even if the properties are not yet significantly improved, it was well ascribed that the MB method was suitable to mix elastomer particles within a PEEK matrix. Poor interfacial adhesion has been identified as the main key parameter, which should be improved in further work.