Cavity formation upon loading and unloading in cross-linked rubber nanocomposites

The primary goal of this proposal is to study the effect of polymer blend morphology on cavity formation by varying the type of polymers in a blend and also the blend ratio. Cavities will be induced both in the bulk of the material by fatigue and locally by tensile deformation. Moreover, the proposal aims to understand how filler dispersion in such complex systems affects cavity formation mechanisms. For this, we will study the effect of the filler micro-dispersion in polymer blends on the molecular damage mechanisms by varying its type (silica type and structure), silica content, and the polymerfiller coupling agent (organosilanes). This work is expected to bring improvements to the preparation and the experimental evaluation of rubber compounds, by understanding the role of vulcanization and polymer blend morphology for the formation of voids in the polymer matrix and the consequences of these voids for the endurance performance and the energy dissipation in tires.