Characteristics of Elastomeric Composites Reinforced with Carbon Black and Epoxy

In different industrial applications of the elastomeric composites, optimization of processing as well as performance requirements through variation in the mixture composition is one of the basic tools. Thus, various components taking part in a particular formulation play an important role on the final properties. The main focus of this work is based on the effect of additional elements on the mechanical properties of elastomeric composites based on a mixture of natural (NR) and butadiene (BR) rubber. Influence of accelerator-vulcanizing agent system was studied. In addition part of the conventional filler (carbon black) was replaced by epoxy resin in order to investigate the possibility of achieving new properties of the composites. Mechanical, physical and viscoelastic properties were investigated by different experimental techniques (swelling, tensile test, microindentation, DMTA, etc.). Damage analysis of the studied composites was made by using Scanning Electron Microscopy.