Literature Survey on Aging Effects of Natural Rubber Bearing

This paper aims to provide material to assist in the design process. The authors surveyed the literature on aging effects of natural rubber bearings and consider their basic and rupture characteristics. Aging tests were conducted either by real time or by accelerated heating tests. In both cases, the horizontal stiffness of the natural rubber bearings tended to increase with age. Comparing the results of the real-time aging tests and the accelerated heating test, the results were generally comparable after about 40 years of aging. The rupture characteristics, i.e., rupture strain and rupture shear stress, both tended to decrease with age.