The Mechanism of Abrasion of Vulcanized Rubber

The authors investigated the abrasion of a number of vulcanized rubbers with the sliding of a smooth steel indenter. Abrasion was achieved by repeated action of an indenter, moving reciprocally along one and the same portion of the surface of the rubber. In the surface layer being destroyed the rubber became tacky; the removal of rubber in abrasion took place by the rolling up into “rolls” of the altered (sticky) surface layer. The character of destruction of the rubber in abrasion is affected by the type of the original rubber, and, in some cases, by the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere. The process of abrasion of vulcanizates of natural rubber and SKI is accompanied by perceptible oxidative degradation. Evidently the wear of rubber is linked essentially with the development of mechanochemical degradative processes.