Heating and Vulcanisation of Rubber Hybrid Materials through electrical Resistance Heating

摘要

Rubber compounds contain different components, including crosslinking chemicals. The homogeneous and energy-efficient vulcanisation of thick-walled rubber components is a challenge. Only a technically extensive and energy-intensive combination of different available vulcanisation methods allows a homogeneous vulcanisation. By functionalising rubber compounds with electrically conductive fillers, such as carbon black, a new and energy-efficient vulcanisation process was developed. This method uses the principle of resistance heating. By applying an electrical voltage, dissipative heating of the material and thus cross-linking takes place. Even with thick-walled components, a homogenous temperature distribution can be achieved over the entire cross-section of the component.