Study on the Characteristic of Elastomer Composite Containing Tungsten Powder

In order to develop an ultra-high-density elastomeric material for substitution of steel dynamic dampers, a new curing system and technique for high-loading of the filler were examined in this study. Mechanochemical modification of chloroprene rubber (MAH-g-CR) using an internal mixer was carried out with maleic anhydride (MAH) as a reactive monomer. The optimum amount of MAH was 10 phr and the efficient grafting of MAH on CR could be achieved at a mixing temperature of 100℃. After preparing MAH-g-CR, 50 mol% epoxidized natural rubber (ENR 50) was blended with MAH-g-CR to develop a "self-curable rubber blend system" via reaction between the functional groups of the elastomeric matrices without the curing agent and additives. The content of ENR 50 was fixed at 30 wt.% throughout evaluation of the curing behavior of the MAH-g-CR/ENR blend. Tungsten powder was added to the MAH-g-CR/ENR matrix up to 60 vol.% to obtain ultra-high-density, and the maximum density obtained was 7.57 g/㎤. Stable ts2 (scorch time) and t90 (90% cure time) could be obtained even when tungsten powder was incorporated up to 60 vol.%. In addition, the tensile strength and damping properties of MAH-g-CR/ENR containing 60 vol.% of tungsten were better than those of CR containing 60 vol.% of tungsten.