• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.192-198
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• 2021

Due to enormous market growing of electric vehicles without combustion engine, reducing unwanted BSR (buzz, squeak, and rattle) noise is highly demanded for vehicle quality and performance. Particularly, innerbelt weatherstrips which not only block wind noise, rain, and dust from outside, but also reduce noise and vibration of door glass and vehicle are required to exhibit high damping properties for improved BSR performance of the vehicle. Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), which can be recycled and have lighter weight than thermoset elastomers, are receiving much attention for weatherstrip material, but TPEs exhibit low material damping and compression set causing frictional noise and vibration between the door glass and the weatherstrip. In this study, high damping EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer)/PP (polypropylene) thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV) were investigated by varying EPDM/PP ratio and ENB (ethylidene norbornene) fraction in EPDM. Viscoelastic properties of TPV materials were characterized by assuming that the material damping is directly related to the viscoelasticity. The optimum material damping factor (tanδ peak 0.611) was achieved with low PP ratio (14 wt%) and high ENB fraction (8.9 wt%), which was increased by 140% compared to the reference (tanδ 0.254). The improved damping is believed due to high fraction of flexible EPDM chains and higher interfacial slippage area of EPDM particles generated by increasing ENB fraction in EPDM. The stick-slip test was conducted to characterize frictional noise and vibration of the TPV weatherstrip. With improved TPV material damping, the acceleration peak of frictional vibration decreased by about 57.9%. This finding can not only improve BSR performance of electric vehicles by designing material damping of weatherstrips but also contribute to various structural applications such as urban air mobility or aircrafts, which require lightweight and high damping properties.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2016

In this study, the reclaimed polypropylene (RPP) and waste ground rubber tire (WGRT) were used to simulate the thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) for cost reduction and resources recycling. Also, we examined the effects of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di-(tert-butylperoxy)-hexane (DTBPH) as peroxide type cross-linking agents to enhance the properties of TPV's. The components of RPP and WGRT were fixed at 30 and 70 wt%, and DCP and DTBPH were added in the concentrations from 0.5 to 1.5 phr, respectively. RPP/WGRT composites with different contents of DCP and DTBPH were prepared by a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder. The Young's modulus of composites were decreased with increasing peroxides contents. On the other hand, tensile strength, elongation at break, and impact strength of the composites were increased with peroxide contents. We also confirmed that interfacial adhesion between RPP and WGRT was considerably improved by adding the peroxides. Taken together, DTBPH added RPP/WGRT composites exhibited better mechanical properties rather than those of DCP added composites.