The steady state abrasion of rubber: Why are the weakest rubber compounds so good in abrasion?

It is apparent that the low strength of the BR material results in much smaller asperities being formed under steady state abrasion. When these asperities are modelled they create very low values of strain energy release rate which results in a much slower abrasion rate. Conversely the strongest material NR has the longest tongue on the asperity and this in turn generates much larger values for the tearing energy at the tip of the asperity and this contributes to its poor abrasion resistance.