Thermo-mechanics of Elastomers Undergoing Scission and Cross-linking at High Temperatures

This paper focuses on the effect of high temperatures on an elastomeric component. There are two sources of temperature rise, a hot environment and internal heating due to mechanical loading such as occurs during cyclic loading. Internal mechanical heating can lead to a substantial temperatures occuring within the component. When the temperature of the material becomes sufficiently high, macromolecules undergo time dependent scission, recoil and may cross link to form new networks with new reference configurations. This process can affect the stiffness of the material system, induce anisotropy and lead to permanent set.