Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.43, No.3, 531-542, 2003
Microcellular model evaluation for the deformation of dynamically vulcanized EPDM/iPP blends
The origins of elasticity in thermoplastic vulcanizates have been debated for the past decade. Previous modeling attempts provide numerical solutions that make assessment of constituent concentration and interactions unclear. A microcellular modeling approach is proposed and evaluated herein to describe the steady-state behavior of dynamically vulcanized blends of ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP). This approach provides an analytic result including terms for composition and cure state. Three types of deformation are accounted for: elastic and plastic deformation of iPP, elastic deformation of EPDM, and localized elastic and plastic rotation about iPP junction points. The viability of the constitutive model is evaluated in terms of iPP concentration and EPDM cure state.