Cavitation Micro-mechanisms in Silica-Filled Styrene-Butadiene Rubber Upon Fatigue and Cyclic Tensile Testing

A multiscale approach was proposed to investigate cavitation micro-mechanisms developing in silica-filled styrene-butadiene rubber exposed to fatigue and cyclic tensile testing. At the macro-/mesoscopic scale, a decrease in load amplitude observed in fatigue was corroborated with cavitation micro-mechanisms initiated by silica agglomerate-rubber debonding and silica agglomerate breakdown. In the case of cyclic tensile testing, a gradual decrease of Poisson's ratio was correlated at the microscopic scale by similar cavitation micro-mechanisms than in fatigue. Both fatigue and cyclic tensile behaviors were considerably affected by an applied thermal treatment of the compound enhancing cavitation (especially agglomerate breakdown).