First part covers Hardness, Ultimate Tensile Strength, Elongation, Tensile Set.
Hardness
Hardness is the measure of how resistant solid material is when a force is applied. There are 3 main type of hardness measurements, scratch, indentation and rebound. We will only be talking about the indentation hardness for elastomers. Indentation hardness is the materials resistance to indentation by an indentor.
Rubber is made in different hardness’ for several reasons. Some sealing surfaces may not be totally smooth. The little voids, pits and scratches allow a pathway for fluid or air to escape through. Softer materials tend to flow better into these voids and imperfections on the sealing surface creating a better seal. On the other hand, harder rubbers will not do this as well but they do resist extrusion cause by high pressures. Also, coefficient of friction is also affected by the hardness of the rubber. Softer rubber has a higher coefficient of friction and harder rubber has a lower coefficient of friction. Coefficient of friction plays a factor when the rubber seal is sealing a part that moves.
Measuring Hardness
The durometer gauge is used to test the hardness of elastomers. The 3 most common durometer gauges used to measure rubber are Type A, Type M and Type D. Type A is used to test soft rubber materials while Type D is used to test hard rubber and plastic materials. Type M, also for soft materials, was developed to test small specimens, typically O-rings, that do not meet the physical size requirements specified in ASTM D2240. Is is important to know that although each of the hardness scales are graduated from 1-100, these scales are not the same. 90 Shore A is not the same as 90 Shore D or 90 Shore M. A piece of rubber measuring 90 on a Shore A gauge will read around 42-43 on a Shore D gauge.
Tensile Strength
Ultimate tensile strength, or just tensile strength, is the maximum force a material can withstand without fracturing when stretched. It is the opposite of compressive strength. Have you ever purchased a pair of shoes and they came joined together with a piece of string? Instead of getting a pair of scissors, did you opted to test your physical strength against the tensile strength of the string and try to break it by pulling on it? If the string has a low tensile strength you should be able to pull and break the string easily. You can apply more tensional force than the string can withstand. If it has a high tensile strength it will be much harder to break by pulling. Are you starting to understand what tensile strength is?
Tensile strength is an indication of how strong a compound is. Any time you have an application where you are pulling on the part, tensile strength is important to know. Whether your product is designed to break easily or not at all the tensile strength will let you know how the object will react to the tensional forces. A few rubber products that tensile strength are important would be bungee cords, rubber tie downs, drive belts. Some elastomeric compounds, like Silicone, have a low tensile strength making them unsuitable for a dynamic types of seal because they can fracture easily.
Measuring Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is measured with a tensometer. A tensometer is special machine that is designed to apply a tensional or compressive force to a specimen, in our case a die cut dumbbell shape, and measure how much force it takes to deform and fracture the specimen. The force is typically displayed on a stress-strain curve that shows how much force was required to stretch the specimen to deformation and ultimately break.
Elongation
Maximum elongation, with respect to tensile testing, is the measure of how much a specimen stretches before it breaks. Elongation is usually expressed as a percentage. I had an application where a very small O-ring with an inside diameter of .056 inches had to stretch over a rod with a diameter of .170 inches. A Nitrile O-ring worked fine since it’s ultimate elongation was well over 400% and the O-ring was able to withstand the 200% stretch during installation. But when we tried to use a fluorocarbon compound several of the O-rings were breaking during installation. This fluorocarbon compound had an ultimate elongation of 150% and could not withstand being stretched to over 200% during the installation and the o-ring would break.
Measuring Elongation
Elongation is measured with a ruler or an extensometer. An extensometer is an electronic ruler that is attached to the tensometer and will measure the extension of the specimen while torsional force is being applied. Another way of measuring elongation is with a regular ruler. To measure the elongation with a ruler, make two bench marks 1 inch a part on the specimen. This is the Initial Gage Length (Lo) and then measure the distance between the marks just before the specimen breaks. This is the Final Gage Length ( Lx). Calculate the elongation with the following equation: elongation % = 100( Lx – Lo ) / Lo.
Tensile Set
While we are using bench marks, let quickly talk about Tensile Set. Tensile Set is the extension remaining after a specimen has been stretched and allowed to relax for a predefined period of time. Tensile Set is expressed as a percentage of the original length. Tensile set results are not found on the stress-strain curve. It’s a measurement that can be performed after the tensile strength test. Do not mistake Tensile Set with Elasticity. Elasticity is the mechanical property of a material to return to its original shape where Tensile Set is the amount on extension remaining after being stretched.
A rubber band would have a low Tensile Set percentage. After stretched it relaxes close to, if not exactly to, its original length. Now take a piece of Teflon and stretch it. It does not return to its original length and it stays in its stretched state. This would have a high Tensile Set percentage.
One test we perform in our Q.C. inspection is to pull on the O-ring and see how fast and how close it returns to its original diameter. The O-ring should fairly quickly return close to its original diameter. Often times a seal has to be stretched during installation and the last thing you want to happen is the O-ring stay stretched and not fit which could cause problems during assembly.
Measuring Tensile Set
Remember the 2 bench marks 1 inch apart on the specimen in the elongation test? To determine Tensile Set after break, wait 10 minutes after the specimen breaks and then fit the two halves of the specimen back together so there is good contact along the full length of the break. Measure the distance between the bench marks. Use the same equation used in the elongation test except the Final Gage Length (Lx) is the final measured distance between the bench marks. Another way to test without breaking is to stretch the specimen to a specified elongation and hold for 10 minutes. Release the specimen as quickly as possible, making sure not to allow it to snap back, and let sit for 10 minutes. Measure the distance between the bench marks. Again, use the same equation used in the elongation test except the Final Gage Length (Lx) is the final measured distance between the bench marks.
Compression Set
The purpose of the compression set test is to measure the ability of the rubber specimen to retain its elastic properties after compressive forces have been applied for a prolonged period of time at elevated temperatures.
Compression set results can be useful to know when rubber seals, mounts or dampeners are subject to compressive forces in the application. This is particularly important when the seal is in a prolonged compressed state and even more so when simultaneously being exposed to elevated temperatures. When an O-ring is squeezed the rubber has elasticity. It wants to go back to its original shape. This elasticity is how the O-rings seals, especially under low or no pressure. When pressure is applied to the system the O-ring seal pushes against the groove wall opposite the direction of the pressure, forcing it to expand perpendicular to the direction it is being squeezed. This expansion provides additional sealing capability.
When an O-ring is squeezed and subjected to excessive heat it can loose some or all of its elasticity and take a permanent set. Then, when you pull the o-ring out it no longer has a nice round cross section but instead has flat spots were it was squeezed in the application. This permanent set will reduce the sealing ability of the O-ring. The compression set test is a great way to see how the compound will react to compressive forces while subjected to heat. Also, poor compression set along with poor tensile strength can be an indication of the state of cure of the specimen. If you don’t cure the compound enough these properties will diminish.
How to Test Compression Set
The specimen, usually a molded rubber disk, is squeezed between two metal plates to about 75% of its original thickness and then placed in an oven at elevated temperatures for a period of time. After the specimen comes out of the oven and is allowed to cool, measurements can be taken and the percentage of original deflection is calculated.
The original deflection is the amount you compressed the specimen in the fixture. If you have a 1 inch thick specimen and compress it to 0.750” thickness, the original deflection is 0.250”. Now lets say the 1 inch thick sample measured 0.875” thick after the test. It took a 0.125” set. 0.125 is 50% of the original deflection of 0.250” or a compression set of 50%. The higher the percentage the poorer the results.
You may see “Method A” or “Method B”. Method A is compression set under a constant force and Method B is compression set under constant deflection. Method B is the primary method used throughout the ASTM D2000 specification.
Compression-Deflection
The purpose of the compression-deflection test is to compare the stiffness of the rubber materials under a compressive force. This test can tell you how much a part will deflect under a given load or, alternatively, how much load it will take to deflect a part a given distance. Rubber mounts and dampeners are some examples of parts that are subject to compressive forces and knowing the relationship between compressive forces and deflection can be important.
How to Test Compression-Deflection
Compression-Deflection is measured on a compression testing machine or can be measured on any other type of machine that can apply a measurable force to a specimen at a given rate and be able to measure the deflection to one thousandths of an inch. At Hebei Shida Seal Group, our tensometer can apply compressive force at the specified rate and also measure the deflection. The test is performed by compressing the specimen to a specified compressive force and measuring the deflection results or compressing to a specified deflection and measuring the compression force results.