Effect of Temperature on the Fatigue Life of Natural Rubber

Abstract

— Natural rubber is widely used in industrial applications owning to its good elasticity and ductility. Studying the fatigue performance of rubber is important, as it affects the service life of rubber products. This paper focuses on how temperature affects the fatigue lifetime of natural rubber during tensile testing. The fundings of tensile testing show that below 50 °C, proper heating can increase the lifetime of natural rubber. However, when the temperature exceeds 50 °C and continues to increase, the fatigue life of rubber decreases. Different crack propagation modes dominate at different temperatures, resulting in different fracture surfaces.