Tension behaviour of HNBR and FKM elastomers for a wide range of temperatures

This article presents uniaxial tension tests of three different elastomer compounds commonly applied as seal materials in the oil and gas industry. The tests were performed at five different temperatures, ranging from −20 to 150 °C. Optical measurements were used to ensure high quality stress-strain data. The material samples were exposed to a cyclic deformation history, enabling the viscoelastic behaviour to be explored. A considerable effect of temperature changes was found, with a pronounced increase of stiffness and viscosity for the lowest temperatures. A dip in the stress-strain curve was seen for one of the hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubbers tested at low temperatures. Matrix-particle debonding simulations qualitatively described this stress dip. For the tests performed at the highest temperatures, a considerable number encountered material failure.