Dynamic viscoelasticity and hysteresis loss of carbon black filled rubber: Measurements and prediction

Abstract It is found that the performance of the rubber bearing is dominated by the carbon black (CB) filled rubber whose dynamic mechanical properties are sensitive to frequency, temperature, and strain amplitude. Due to viscoelasticity, the hysteresis loss represents energy dissipation, which can reflect the damping capacity of the CB‐filled rubber. Besides, the energy dissipation is positively correlated with the loss modulus. However, in practice, the rubber bearing is only considered a structural vibration measure, which keeps in service for a long time under various loading conditions. The current research on the accelerated prediction method of the loss modulus and hysteresis loss of CB‐filled rubber is limited. To this end, dynamic mechanical tests are carried out. Based on the time–temperature superposition principle (TTSP), the master curve of long‐term dynamic mechanical properties can be obtained, and the accuracy of shift factors is verified by the use of the Williams–Landel–Ferry (WLF) equation. When the temperature rises above −10°C, it is obvious that there is a linear relationship between the shift factor and temperature. Therefore, an empirical accelerated prediction method of the loss modulus and hysteresis loss of CB‐filled rubber is proposed by the use of the linear relationship. The results show that the empirical method is very useful to predict the loss modulus and hysteresis loss of CB‐filled rubber, which indicates that time and cost can be significantly reduced because of the simplicity in comparison with the WLF equation. Highlights Effect of temperature, frequency, and prestrain on the dynamic viscoelasticity. A linear relationship between shift factor and loading condition is proposed. The linear relationship is superior from the aspect of time and cost.