초록
Coolant rubber hoses for automotive radiators under thermal and mechanical loadings can be degraded and thus failed due to the influences of the locally formed electricity. In this study, an advanced test method was developed to simulate the failure problem of the rubber hose. For carbon black filled EPDM (ethylene-propylene dine monomer) rubber used as a radiator hose material the ageing behaviors by the electro-chemical stresses combined with a tensile strain were analyzed. As the tensile strain increased, the current of the rubber specimen reduced indicating an increase of the internal defects and electrical resistance of the rubber specimen. Elongation at break and IRHD hardness rapidly decreased with increasing the ageing time. Both electro-chemical stress and mechanical tensile stress clearly accelerated the degradation of EPDM rubber.
