Abstract: | The effects of the amount of nylon-66 short-fiber and its bonding to a chloroprene rubber were studied. The following results were obtained: (a) The tensile strength of short-fiber reinforced rubber (SFRR) exhibits a dilution effect in each interphase. It was found that the interphase conditions have an important effect on the dilution ratio and the critical fiber content. The specimen with double coatings of the bonding agent and a rubber solution, becomes the best of 5 interphase models. Both the yield strength and tensile moduli significantly improve with fiber content. (b) The spring constant (SC) of unreinforced rubber decreases after the fatigue test, however, the SC of all reinforced rubbers increases. The change in SC of reinforced rubber decreases with fiber content. The better the interphase condition, the smaller the change of the SC. (c) The temperature of rubber increases about 2.6 fold after the fatigue test. The reinforced rubbers show a 1.4 to 2.2 fold increase in temperature. The temperature changes during the fatigue test of the reinforced rubbers decrease with increasing fiber content, as well as with improved interphase bonding. |