Vulcanization Vulcanization Vulcanization (British: vulcanisation) is a chemical process used to harden rubber. Vulcanization traditionally referred to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur and this remains the most common example, however the term has also grown to include the hardening of other (synthetic) rubbers via various means. Examples include silicone rubber via room temperature vulcanizing and chloroprene rubber (neoprene) using metal oxides. Vulcanisation can therefore be defined as the curing of elastomers; with the terms 'vulcanization' and 'curing' sometimes used interchangeably in this context. It works by forming cross-links between sections of polymer chain which results in increased rigidity and
Rubber toughening and CTBN toughened epoxies. Engineers use an energy-balance approach to model how particle size and rubber modulus factors influence material toughness. Both particle size and modulus show positive correlation with brittle-tough transition temperatures. They are both shown to affect the cavitation process occurring at the crack tip process zone early in deformation, preceding large-scale crazing and shear yielding. In order to show increased toughness under strain, the volumetric strain must overcome the energy of void formation as modeled by the equation: formula_1 "where formula_2 and formula_3 are the shear modulus and bulk modulus of the rubber, formula_4 is the volume