Butyl Networks Containing Unattached Polyisobutylene Chains: Part II, Correlation of Tear, Tensile, and Hysteretic Properties

Abstract

Abstract Butyl networks containing either unattached polyisobutylene chains or a low-molecular-weight plasticizer have been made by crosslinking butyl rubber in the presence of one of these diluents. With dodecane as a plasticizer, tear strength is reduced both because of a decrease in the density of load-bearing chains and diminished hysteresis. On the other hand, when the diluent is a high-molecular-weight polyisobutylene, tear strength is enhanced if the test rate is sufficiently high. In this case, the polyisobutylene chains are load bearing (at least initially) before slipping at higher strains to relieve local crack-tip stresses and blunt the propagating tear. This hysteretic mechanism delays the onset of crack propagation, thereby enhancing the fracture energy. However, at low tear rates, in which there is adequate time for the unattached chains to relax such that they bear little load and hysteresis is minimized, tear strength decreases with increasing free-chain content—much the same as occurs with a low-molecular-weight diluent. Finally, under conditions in which the average propagating tearing energy is enhanced for the butyl-polyisobutylene system, the initiation tearing energy is increased only moderately. This suggests that crack-tip blunting during steady-state tearing is at least partially responsible for increases in strength in the presence of free chains.