Defect accumulation in rubber

Abstract It has been demonstrated that the material adjacent to the fracture plane in cured rubber specimens can scatter intense x-ray radiation at small angles. This phenomenon is associated with the presence in the material of voids of very small size. These microvoids exist only adjacent to the fracture surface and are the result of the loading imposed to create the macroscopic fracture. The significance of these microscopic defects is their influence on the manner in which externally applied loads produce fracture of rubber; that is, they provide a link between the experimentally observed fracture behavior of rubbers and the fundamental processes governing this behavior. To cite a few examples, it has been observed that the critical value of tearing energy required for catastrophic failure of a rubber specimen differs for a static versus dynamic mode of deformation. It can be recognized that these differences are related, not only to rate effects, but also to the differences in the state of the fractu...