Gomez-Jimenez Salvador, Guerrero Mendez Carlos, Lopez-Betancur Daniela, Robles-Guerrero Antonio, Navarro-Solis David, Silva-Acosta Luis, Lopez-Baltazar Enrique A, Ortiz-Letechipia Jennifer, Contreras-Rodríguez Ada Rebeca
Engineering Academic Unit, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Avenue López Velarde 801, Zacatecas 98000, Mexico.
Academic Unit of Science and Technology of Light and Matter, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Campus Siglo XXI, Zacatecas 98160, Mexico.
Polymers (Basel). 2025 Sep 9;17(18):2438. doi: 10.3390/polym17182438.
The rubber industry is evolving by incorporating innovative tools to improve production processes. A proper manufacturing process determines the behavior and service life of the resulting products. In this research, molecular dynamics simulations were used to study the effect of temperature in the cured structure on the resulting mechanical properties of EPDM. The results of the simulations at different temperatures of the crosslinked ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) were then compared in terms of the radius of gyration, free volume, root mean square displacement, stress curves, viscosity, and gel point. Then, using the superposition principle, viscosity and tensile stress were evaluated. The molecular dynamics superposition results could reasonably predict the mechanical behavior of EPDM during and after the injection process. The results provide new insights into the molecular-level crosslinking mechanisms of amorphous polymers and their influence on mechanical behavior, which facilitates the design of the injection process for rubber component applications. The results show an increase in viscosity and a decrease in the critical gel point with increasing temperature. The hardness tests performed on an automotive component demonstrate that this has an impact on the resulting properties.
橡胶行业正在通过引入创新工具来改进生产工艺，从而不断发展。恰当的制造工艺决定了最终产品的性能和使用寿命。在本研究中，采用分子动力学模拟来研究固化结构中的温度对三元乙丙橡胶（EPDM）最终力学性能的影响。然后，根据回转半径、自由体积、均方根位移、应力曲线、粘度和凝胶点，对交联乙丙橡胶（EPDM）在不同温度下的模拟结果进行了比较。接着，利用叠加原理评估了粘度和拉伸应力。分子动力学叠加结果能够合理预测EPDM在注塑过程中和注塑后的力学行为。这些结果为无定形聚合物的分子水平交联机制及其对力学行为的影响提供了新的见解，有助于橡胶部件应用注塑工艺的设计。结果表明，随着温度升高，粘度增加，临界凝胶点降低。对汽车部件进行的硬度测试表明，这会对最终性能产生影响。
