Blends of Acrylonitrile rubber with Maleic anhydride grafted Whole Tyre
Reclaim WTR (MA-g-WTR) have been prepared and the cure and mechanical
properties have been studied with respect to reclaim content. Control
compounds containing unmodified WTR were also prepared for comparison.
Grafting was confirmed by IR studies. Blends containing grafted WTR showed
higher minimum torque and (max-min) torque. They also showed longer cure
time, scorch time and lower cure rate. Grafting of the WTR with maleic
anhydride also resulted in the improved tensile strength, abrasion resistance,
compression set and resilience. However, the heat build up under dynamic
loading was marginally higher for the blends containing grafted reclaimed
rubber.
The effect of an external flaw on the tensile strength of short kevlar fiber-thermoplastic
composites has been studied with respect to fiber content, fiber orientation,
location of the external flaw, and the temperature of test. The composites showed
a three-step reduction in tensile strength with increasing flaw size. The critical flaw-length
region was shifted to higher flaw-size levels with increasing fiber content. With increasing
temperature, the critical flaw length was increased in the case of unfilled TPU, whereas it
remained more or less constant in the case of short kevlar fiber-filled-TPU composite.