The theoretical treatment of visco-elastic properties of silicone elastomers as a function of temperature and strain rate

Silicone elastomers have been used as structural sealant components since the early 1970s. Physical properties such as elastic modulus, cross-link density, viscosity, shear modulus, and the effect of orientation arising from processing are considered in this study. There are few published mathematical models which adequately describe elastomer behavior nor is there much in the published literature to verify experimental results. A new model was therefore developed. Stress-strain data were obtained from an Instron machine which was utilized to conduct experimental studies. It was observed that the elastic modulus of the two silicone elastomers used in this study decreased with an increase in temperature. This interesting phenomenon has not been reported in the literature hitherto.