Recent progress in the accelerated aging and lifetime prediction of elastomers : A review

The accelerated thermal aging of elastomeric compounds, reinforced or not, has received considerable attention from researchers. It is interesting because aging is a classic problem in elastomers that alters their properties and, consequently, their service life. However, the aging of elastomers in their operational environment can be time-consuming. Many studies into accelerated aging have focused on understanding the effect of exposure to elevated temperatures on the chemical and physical aspects of the materials. The mechanical and chemical response of such elastomers to aging is directly related to the features of the base rubber, the curing system, the nature of reinforcement and additives, the interfacial interactions between the elastomer and reinforcements or/and polymer blended with the matrix, and the surface area of the filler. Therefore, accelerated aging provides an effective tool to reduce the time to reach a material with the properties of a degraded material in its normal application condition. It helps us to understand the problem with the formulation and to know the proper time to change the elastomer parts used in applications that is not easy to inspect, such as the several elastomeric materials used in the electrical industries, oil and gas industry industries, marine industries, etc. This work aims to collect and compare the works carried out during the past two decades on the accelerated aging of elastomers to form a reference for future work.