| Abstract: | Styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) vulcanizates containing 0 to 2.73 parts of vinyltriethoxysilane (VTEOS) per hundred parts of rubber (phr) were prepared, keeping the other ingredients weight constant. The mixes were tested for their curing behavior by a curemeter. The vulcanizates were analyzed through a Universal tensile tester, fatigue-to-failure tester, and scanning electron microscope mainly for mechanical properties and correlation. An increase in induction time and decrease in cure time, each by 10%, was noticed by the incorporation of 2.73 phr of VTEOS. The tensile strength and elongation at break improved significantly up to 0.5 phr of VTEOS and either a small improvement or deterioration of these properties was observed beyond this concentration of VTEOS. The fatigue-to-failure cycle at four extension ratios showed a gradual and appreciable improvement. It is noteworthy to mention that the vulcanizate containing 2.73 phr VTEOS possessed about a threefold increase in the fatigue-to-failure cycle compared to its non-VTEOS vulcanizate. However, this distinction of the fatigue-to-failure cycle progressively decreased with increase in the extension ratios. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1719–1725, 1998 |
