investigating the impact of bound rubber on cavitation resistance of silica-reinforced nbr composites

For rubber products that experience a state of three-axial tensile stress, rubber cavitation is one of the main failure mechanisms affecting durability. the traditional gent’s theory describing cavitation as a true elastic phenomenon has recently been revised by concepts encompassing a role played by viscoelastic loss. here, for a number of nbr compounds, the surface of silica as a reinforcing agent has been systematically treated at various degrees by a mono-functional silane. the impact of changing the filler-polymer interaction on the cavitation resistance is analyzed. a new concept based on the “bound rubber” content is introduced to qualitatively interpret the trend of cavitation resistance. it is shown that this idea could well sum up the previous theories on cavitation and it can be utilized to control this type of failure.