Elastomers in Hostile Environments

摘要

Although hostile environments give rise to many deterioration processes whereby the durability of rubber components can be limited, an even wider range of rubbers is available to combat these, to provide service lives which are at least acceptable in many instances. For most applications, one or more types of rubber exist to meet requirements of durability, especially if associated with correct design for the service. However, careful testing and, where appropriate, application of life assessment methods are necessary to be confident that required service performance will be achieved, or to know when elastomer components should be replaced.