Effects of interphase on the mechanical properties of short-fiber reiforced rubber

The mechanical properties of short-fiber reinforced polychloroprene rubber have been investigated as functions of interphase condition, fiber content, and fiber aspect ratio. The tensile strength of reinforced rubber exhibits a dilution effect in each interphase. Both the yield strength and tensile moduli are significantly improved with the fiber content. The bursting pressure of reinforced rubber increases up to 8.73 times compared to virgin material. The bursted shape of virgin rubber shows a radiating shape while that of reinforced rubber shows a fluctuating straight line. The better the interphase condition shows the smaller the changing rate of the spring constant. The temperature of rubber matrix increases about 2.6 times and those of the reinforced rubber show a 1.4–2.2 times increase after the fatigue test. The better the interphase condition shows the smaller the changing rate of temperature with the same fiber content. In this study, the interphase model 'E' with double coatings of the bonding a...