The influence on their resilience of a partial removal of the deforming stress on compressed elastomers
If there is a relatively low reduction in the original deforming stress applied to an elastomer seal which is subjected to a constant compression during its practical use, this may result in a considerable drop in its resilience and the sealing capacity associated with this. The degree of the stress relaxation caused by a specific reduction in the initial deforming stress in addition to the viscoelastic and ageing processes in the elastomer was determined for six vulcanisates and a thermoplastic elastomer during long-term storage at 23, 70 and 1000°C. The stress relaxation values determined in this way were compared to the results of stress relaxation tests performed according to DIN 53 537 (method B)