Effect of Titanium Carbide as a Filler on the Mechanical Properties of Styrene Butadiene Rubber

Abstract

For a few decades now, Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) has been one of the highest volume general-purpose rubber owing to is low cost and better abrasion resistance compared to Natural Rubber. However, in recent times, some drawbacks have emerged and there has been a constant effort to improve its properties. The basic aim of this work is to study the effect of Titanium Carbide filler in powder form on the mechanical properties of SBR. The TiC amount is gradually varied as 0, 1, 2, 5, and finally 10 parts by weight per hundred parts of rubber [phr]. A practical study has been done on the physical and mechanical properties of SBR before and after addition of calculated amounts of TiC. The results obtained show that curing time continues to decrease with addition of TiC, while overall density continues to increase. Hardness, tensile strength and elastic modulus values showed an increase until 2% TiC, and then a subsequent reduction. Correspondingly, the % elongation decreased up to 2% TiC, and then increased slightly. Interestingly, it was observed that even small amounts TiC caused a significant increase (225% increase) in Tear strength, but there was no significant dependence on the amount of TiC. So, this work proves that by using 2% TiC, the mechanical properties can be increased up to greater extent at a reduced curing time.