The Effect of Network Structure on Compressive Fatigue Behavior of Unfilled Styrene-Butadiene Rubber

The effect of network structure on dynamic compressive fatigue behavior and static compressive mechanical properties of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) were investigated. A series of SBR compounds with different amounts of sulfur and dicumyl peroxide (DCP) were prepared, and their crosslinking densities were calculated using the Flory–Rehner equation. Compressive fatigue resistance and creep behavior of the vulcanizates were performed on a mechanical testing and simulation (MTS) machine. The fatigue damage surface of SBR vulcanizates before and after a dynamic compressive fatigue test was observed with a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results suggested that the surface of the samples was badly damaged as the number of compressive cycles increased. By comparison, compressive fatigue caused less surface damage to sulfur-cured SBR than to peroxide-cured SBR. The peroxide-cured SBR samples showed higher energy dissipation than sulfur-cured SBR during cyclic compression. The peroxide-cured SBR showed lower creep strain and compression set than the sulfur-cured SBR. The -Sx- linkages provided by the sulfur curing system allow dynamic compressive deformation but suffer from poor static compressive resistance. However, the carbon-carbon linkages from DCP are irreversible and provide higher resistance to static compressive stress, but they do not show obvious dynamic compressive fatigue resistance.