Sharif Digital Repository

In recent decades, great attention has been devoted to the toughening of isotactic poly(propylene) (PP) with elastomers such as ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR). The most important reasons for this interest are the moderate cost and favorable properties of PP. This article is focused on the role of EPR in the deformation and fracture mechanism of PP/EPR blends with different volume fractions of elastomer phase. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), tensile tests, and microscopy techniques were used in this study. The fracture mechanism of isotactic PP toughened by EPR (PP/EPR) has also been studied by three point bending (3-PB) and four point bending (4-PB) tests. Rubber particle... 

Elastomeric bearings are becoming a preferred device for isolating bridges, buildings, and sensitive equipment structures. The technical specifications used to procure these isolators are considered as important factors for the consumers. Lack of communication between structural engineers and rubber technologists, causes structural engineers have slight understanding of rubber properties. In the present study, a number of compounds were initially designed and manufactured, based on a previously studied and manufactured isolator compound. The outcome of the experiments indicated the physical and mechanical properties. Afterwards, the targeted improvement led to modification of the compounds... 

In the present study, the effect of using magnetorheological elastomer materials and a magnetic field on the dynamic stability of a sandwich beam under a follower force has been investigated for various boundary conditions. The considered sandwich beam consists of a magnetorheological elastomer core constrained by elastic layers. The structural governing equations are derived using Hamilton’s principle and solved by the finite element method. The validity of the result is examined by comparison with those in the literature. The effects of variation in the parameters such as magnetic field intensity and the thickness of the layers on the stability of the sandwich beam are studied. Finally,... 

Torsional aeroelastic analysis of a turbomachinery cascade comprised of three-layered sandwich blades embedded with Magnetorheological Elastomer (MRE) core layer is carried out in this paper. The MRE material is used as a constrained damping layer between two elastic skins in order to investigate its effects on the aeroelastic stability of a blade cascade. To formulate the structural dynamic of the blades, torsional theory of rectangular laminated plates is used and the unsteady Whitehead's aerodynamic theory is employed to model the aerodynamic loadings. Assumed modes method and the Lagrange's equations are used to derive the governing equations of motion of the coupled aeroelastic system.... 

Polyurethane elastomer networks were designed and synthesized based on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene/polypropyleneoxide (HTPB/PPO) mixtures, 2,4-toluene diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol. Various networks with different molar ratio of HTPB to PPO (0/100, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 and 100/0) had been prepared. Depending on the length of soft segment, average functionality of polyol mixtures, mechanical and thermal properties of samples were varied. Our observations confirmed that final properties of the networks can be attributed to two synergistic factors: (a) formation of chemical network (crosslinking) and (b) soft segment length. An optimum composition was found. This optimum composition... 

In this study, the torsional vibration analysis of a rotating tapered sandwich beam with a magnetorheological elastomer core has been investigated. The magnetorheological elastomer material is used as a constrained damping layer embedded between two elastic constraining skins in order to improve the vibrational behavior of the sandwich beam. The three layers of the sandwich beam have rectangular cross-sections with symmetric arrangement. The problem formulation is set up based on the torsional theory of rectangular laminated plates. The assumed modes method and the Lagrange equations are used to derive the governing equations of motion of the system. The validity of the presented formulation... 

A series of polyurethane elastomers (PUEs) based on 4,4′-cyclohexamethylene diisocyanate (H12MDI)/1,2-ethanediol as hard segment with the soft segments having different molecular weights of polycaprolactone diols, were effectively polymerized by two step technique. The structural characterization was performed by FT-IR spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique was used to study the crystallinity and hydrophilicity of the prepared polymer films. It was found that crystallinity and hydrophilicity increased with increasing the chain length of soft segments. The effect of molecular weight of polyols on the contact angle, water absorption (%) and swelling behavior of the synthesized... 

Elastomers have wide and ever increasing applications in several industries. In this work a compressible visco-hyperelastic approach is employed to investigate the behavior of elastomeric materials. The time-discrete form of the material model is developed to be used in numerical simulations. This formulation provides a recursive relation to update the stress in any time step regarding the deformation history. By means of analytical solutions derived for pure torsion of a solid circular cylinder, the numerical implementation is validated and then, the response of an elastomeric bushing is investigated in torsional, axial and combined deformations. These bushings are used in suspension... 

Strain and stress concentrations are studied for elastomers at finite deformations. Effects of strain-induced crystallization, filler reinforcement and deformation rate are also investigated, and micromechanical descriptions are provided for the observed results. A simple problem is subjected to finite element simulations to show the results evidently. Material parameters are obtained from experimental tests conducted on standard tensile samples of filled and unfilled natural rubber (NR) as well as styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) as crystallizing and non-crystallizing rubbers, respectively. In all simulations, the strain concentration factor KE is shown to decrease monotonically where the... 

Styrene and acrylonitrile are produced in large quantities in the petrochemical industries and have been listed among the 189 hazardous and toxic atmospheric contaminants under United States Clean Air Act Amendments 1990 due to their adverse effects on human health. The experimental work was conducted to evaluate the inhibition effect of biofilter in the presence of co-substrate. Yard waste compost mixed with shredded hard plastics in a 25:75 v/v ratio of plastics:compost as the bed media was inoculated with thickened municipal activated sludge. Acclimation to styrene was achieved at 45 days, but there was a very short acclimation period for acrylonitrile. The results show that performance...