Characterization of the Fracture Behaviour of Elastomers Under Complex Loading Conditions

Abstract

Engineering applications elastomers are frequently exposed to complex combinations of mechanical loads (monotonic, static, intermittent and cyclic loads) superimposed by various environmental effects. A better understanding of the material resistance against crack initiation and propagation becomes of increasing practical importance which can be illustrated by the example of the rapid decompression failure behavior of pressurized seals for oilfield applications.A phenomenon termed rapid gas decompression (ED) damage occurs if elastomer seals exposed to high gas pressure fail upon the sudden release of the gas pressure in a brittle manner. As to the characterization of the explosive decompression failure behaviour of pressurized elastomer seals, our research program deal with (1) the instrumented autoclave tests of pressurized O-rings, (2) the bulk deformation behaviour of elastomers under highly confined conditions, (3) crack initiation and crack growth under high deformation rates, and (4) the pressure and temperature dependent gas permeability of various elastomers using various types of gases.