Uniaxial fatigue behavior of thermal-aged cerium oxide-modified vulcanized natural rubber

The present work investigated the cyclic deformation behavior and fatigue life of thermal-aged cerium oxide (CeO2)-modified vulcanized natural rubber (NR/CeO2). Thermal aging was carried out at the temperature ranging from 60 to 100 degrees C for 24 h and 72 h, respectively. The experimental results show that the CeO2 filler is a useful reinforcing role, which can improve the comprehensive mechanical properties of the heat-aged vulcanizates. The uniaxial fatigue properties of thermal-aged NR/CeO2 rubber were studied at the strain amplitudes of 0-125%, 0-150% and 0-175%, respectively. The axial stress amplitude of NR/CeO2 is higher than that of NR. The CeO2 filler can significantly improve the fatigue strength of rubbers. When the aging temperature is lower than 80 degrees C, the fatigue life of NR/CeO2 is longer than that of NR at the axial strains of 0-125% and 0-150%.