Xudong Quan

In this work, low density hollow glass beads (HGB)/silicon rubber (SR) composites were prepared by solution method and flocculation process. The prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, tensile test, and friction test. The results show that the densities of SR composites decrease from 1.140 to 0.792 g/cm³ with the addition of HGB. By comparing theoretical density with true density, it can be estimated that the ratio of shattered HGB increase from 8.79% to 24.76%. Especially, the mechanical properties of SR composites were improved by surface modification of HGB. By adding surface‐modified HGB at 5 and 10 wt%, the tensile strengths of SR composites were enhanced by 17.8% and 28.2%, respectively. In addition, tear strength, shore A hardness, compression set, and friction property were significantly ameliorated. Furthermore, the mechanism of surface‐modified HGB in mechanical properties was analyzed.

The effects of crosslinking densities on mechanical properties of nitrile rubber (NBR) composites before and after thermal oxidative aging are investigated. Tensile strengths of NBR composites are enhanced slightly at the initial aging stage, attributing to moderate increment of crosslinking densities. Continuous decrease with further aging is followed, resulting from over‐crosslinking and uneven distribution of crosslinking densities. The digital image correlation method is explored for large‐strain deformation measurement by displacement accumulation and establishing strain model, being promising in practical age detection and measurement of mechanical properties in complex environments. Compression sets are gradually increased with aging because of the destruction of the original crosslinking structures. The molecular chains fracture inhibits elastic recoveries of compressive NBR composites and results in residual deformation in thermo‐oxidative and compressive environment after unloading. This study provides new ideas for exploring mechanical properties of rubber‐based composites before and after thermal oxidative aging.