PHYSICAL TESTING

OF RUBBER
VULCANIZATES
The tests can be classified into mainly three broad
categories such as
1) Quality control tests
2) As a performance requirement specification test
3) Research and Development test.

Organisations producing standards

-International organization 1972
-National Organization
-Individual Organization
British-BS 1901
America-ASTM
French -NIFT
German-DIN 1971
Indian -IS
ISO
-1972

Quality Control
Quality control is mainly concerned with maintaining the quality

of products to set standards.

Quality control means control of incoming materials, control of
compounds produced, and the control of manufacturing
processes, and guaranteeing the maximum possibility of the
final product.
Quality control or assurance schemes utilize physical tests as a
most important part of their system.
Standardised test methods are intended for quality control use
and majority of testing carried out is for quality assurance
purposes.
Quality assurance in wide sense means to consider
specifications, the relevance of test methods and the accuracy
of test methods.

Testing on Testing Equipment

Before actual testing
1) Calibrate the testing equipment using the

prescribed calibration procedure.

2) Various test conditions should be noted
e.g.: temperature, atmospheric pressure, size
and type of the test specimen, type of test
equipment etc.
3) Testing equipment should be in perfect
order and can record or display the test
reading accurately.

Procedure for test sample preparation

1. Standard procedure for mixing of the compound.
2. Standard procedure for moulding of the test

sheet/sample.
3. Procedure for cutting of the test sample from the
test sheet.
4. Procedure for test piece preparation from the
finished product.
6. Conditioning of the test piece before actual testing
is carried out.
7. Testing atmosphere and temperature.

1. Hardness Test
Hardness represents the elastic modulus of

material under conditions of small strain.

Hardness test involve the measurement of
the depth of penetration of an indentor of
specified dimensions under the application of
a load either by a dead weight or by a spring.

 Shore 0=for sponge rubber in degree.

Shore A=for soft rubber in degree

Shore D=for hard rubber in degree

Shore A correspond to IRHD but lower
below 300

Universal Testing Machine

2. Tensile stress/strain
Tensile strength is defined as the force per unit area

of original cross section of the sample, required to

stretch a rubber test piece to its breaking point.

Modulus is the tensile stress strain required to

stretch a rubber test piece to a predetermined

elongation.

Elongation at break is the maximum elongation,

expressed as the percentage of the Original length,

prior to the rupture of the sample.

3. Tear Tests
Tear Strength is defined as the force per unit

thickness required to cause a nick out in a

rubber test piece to extend by the tearing of
the rubber when it is stretched, under
constant rate, in a direction perpendicular to
the plane of the cut.

Universal Testing Machines

4. Set, Creep and Stress Relaxation

The deformation that remains in an elastomer after

the removal of an applied stress or strain is

Permanent Set.
When a constant load is applied to an elastomer the
deformation is not constant but increases gradually
with time, this behaviour is known as strain
relaxation or Creep.
When an elastomer is subjected to a constant strain,
a decrease in stress takes place with time, this
behaviour is called stress relaxation
The phenomena of permanent set, creep and stress
relaxation are the result of physical and chemical
changes in elastomer, both of which occur
simultaneously.

5. Set Properties
Recovery after removal of an applied stress

or strain is the set. It depends on time for

which test is conducted and time allowed for
recovery.
Set=To-Tr
-------X100
To-Ts
To-Original thickness
Ts-Compressed thickness
Tr-Recovered thickness

6. Accelerated ageing tests

The testing is done usually, by keeping the test

samples under the influence of temperature, oxygen

or ozone for a specified period and then determining
the physical properties like tensile strength or noting
the visual appeal.
The fall in properties from the initial value or the
change in appearance gives an indication of the
resistance of the rubber vulcanizates to that particular
factor.
Apparatus like hot air ovens, oxygen bomb, ozone
chamber etc. are used for performing the accelerated
ageing.

7. Abrasion Tests
Abrasion resistance may be defined as the

resistance of the rubber vulcanizate to wearing away

by rubbing or impact during service. The principle
involved in the test is to rub the test sample against
a standard rough surface for a specified time. The
loss is expressed in weight or volume per hour.
DIN ABRADER

DIN ABRADER

8. Flex-Cracking and Cut -Growth

Tests
Products like tyres, conveyor belts; shoe soles etc. are

subjected to repeated flexing during service. This repeated

flexing may gradually lead to failure of the product. This is
because repeated flexing of a rubber vulcanizate causes cracks
to develop in that part of the surface where tension stress is
set up during flexing or if that part contains a crack or cut,
causes the crack to extend in the direction perpendicular to the
stress. Various machines like De mattia Flexing machine (used
for evaluation of tyre tread and side wall compounds) Du Pont
Flex machine (used for evaluation of conveyor and transmission
belt compounds) and Ross Flex machine (used for evaluation of
footwear compounds) are commonly used for evaluating the flex
resistance of rubber compounds.

 Resistance to flex cracking consists of two

parts
ie 1)resistance to crack initiation and
2)resistance to crack growth.
In Crack growth testing, a crack is initiated
purposely by means of a specially shaped
tool and the rate of growth of the cut is
measured during flexing.

9. Heat Build Up
This is an important property for tyre tread where fatigue is

caused by repeated cyclic deformation. Subjecting a rubber to

repeated deformation cycles results in a change in stiffness and
a loss of mechanical strength.
Heat build -up type of fatigue test is carried out on an
apparatus generally called a Flexometer which operate in
compression, shear or a combination of the two.
In Goodrich Flexometer a cylindrical test piece is cycled at
1800 cycles/min with a stroke of 4.45mm for 25 min and the
temperature rise is recorded.
Apart from measuring temperature rise ,the static deflection of
the test piece ,its dynamic deflection, compression set, and
indentation hardness are recorded.

10. Rebound resilience test

In rubber, resiliency may be defined as the

ratio of the energy returned to the impressed

energy i.e. resilience is a measure of the
ability of the rubber vulcanizate to return the
energy used to deform it

Rebound Resilience=

(1-cos)
-----------------(1-cos 45)

x100

11. Low Temperature Properties

The low temperature performance of the rubber vulcanizates is
usually estimated by determining the freeze point and
brittleness temperature of the vulcanizates.
The freeze point is defined as the temperature at which the
modulus is ten times its value at 200c. It is determined by
measuring the torque required to produce an angular deflection
at various low temperature and calculating the rigidity modulus.
Brittleness temperature is the temperature, estimated
statistically at which 50% of the specimens would fail in the
specified test. This is measured by giving impact blows to the
sample at various low temperatures and observing the samples
for development of cracks.
Since rubber products become hard and loose their elasticity at
very low temperatures the evaluation of the freeze and
brittleness temperature of the vulcanizates gives an indication of
the low temperature serviceability of the products.

12. Electrical Properties

Rubber vulcanizates can be used as a good insulator in applications like wires and cables.
But in certain cases like antistatic mountings it is made conductive by proper compound
designs. In applications mentioned above, properties like electrical resistivity, dielectric
strength, power factor, dielectric constant etc. are very important.
Dielectric strength is a measure of the ability of insulation to withstand Voltage. It is the
voltage per unit thickness at which electrical breakdown occurs when a potential difference
is applied under specific conditions.
The dielectric constant or specific inductive capacity is a measure of the insulations ability
to store electrical energy. It is the ratio of the electrical capacity of a condenser using the
elastomer under the test, as the dielectric, to the capacity of a similar condenser using air
as the dielectric.
The power factor of an insulating material indicates its tendency to generate heat in service.
If a capacitor using an elastomer as the dielectric is charge and then immediately
discharges, there is an energy loss in the form of heat. If the frequency of charging and
discharging is high, the heat generated will be very high. The ratio of this loss, to the energy
required to charge the capacitor is known as the power factor.
The surface resistivity of a test piece is determined by measuring the current passing under
an applied D.C.potential between two electrodes in intimate contact with the surface under
test and separated from one another by a standard distance.