TY - JOUR

T1 - Fatigue investigations of elastomers developed for high-pressure hydrogen gas environments

AU - Schieppati, Jacopo

AU - Balasooriya, Winoj

AU - Huber, Philipp Arno Huber

AU - Pinter, Gerald

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)

PY - 2024/8/19

Y1 - 2024/8/19

N2 - Hydrogen possesses many characteristics to be an ideal candidate as a more sustainable energy carrier, especially for the transport sector. For a proper optimization of this abundant resource, hydrogen needs to be compressed, and stored in high-pressure conditions, which demands improvement in technology and the development of appropriate materials. In this context, elastomeric sealing components play a critical role and they need to withstand harsh working conditions, for example, high-pressure, wide temperature range, cyclic exposure conditions, etc. In this work, eight different grades designed for this application were analyzed in terms of fatigue behavior and long-term performance. This was verified through fatigue crack growth experiments, the energy dissipation, and temperature increase during crack propagation were analyzed and correlated with micro-structural differences of materials. Furthermore, the materials were investigated at large and small deformations through uniaxial tensile tests and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), respectively. It was found that only with the addition of a coupling agent can silica-filled NBR have properties similar to carbon black (CB) filled NBR, despite a reduction in both fatigue strength and energy dissipation. Coupling agents also involved an increase in bound rubber. Regarding CB-filled compounds, with peroxide crosslinking a reduction in fatigue strength was found, while no effect on the quantity of bound rubber was observed. Increased CB content in NBR grades led to decreased fatigue resistance and higher energy dissipation; higher bound rubber content was found as well. Also for EPDM grades, increased CB content resulted in reduced fatigue resistance. Despite an increase in energy dissipation, the content of bounded rubber was the same even with higher CB content.

AB - Hydrogen possesses many characteristics to be an ideal candidate as a more sustainable energy carrier, especially for the transport sector. For a proper optimization of this abundant resource, hydrogen needs to be compressed, and stored in high-pressure conditions, which demands improvement in technology and the development of appropriate materials. In this context, elastomeric sealing components play a critical role and they need to withstand harsh working conditions, for example, high-pressure, wide temperature range, cyclic exposure conditions, etc. In this work, eight different grades designed for this application were analyzed in terms of fatigue behavior and long-term performance. This was verified through fatigue crack growth experiments, the energy dissipation, and temperature increase during crack propagation were analyzed and correlated with micro-structural differences of materials. Furthermore, the materials were investigated at large and small deformations through uniaxial tensile tests and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), respectively. It was found that only with the addition of a coupling agent can silica-filled NBR have properties similar to carbon black (CB) filled NBR, despite a reduction in both fatigue strength and energy dissipation. Coupling agents also involved an increase in bound rubber. Regarding CB-filled compounds, with peroxide crosslinking a reduction in fatigue strength was found, while no effect on the quantity of bound rubber was observed. Increased CB content in NBR grades led to decreased fatigue resistance and higher energy dissipation; higher bound rubber content was found as well. Also for EPDM grades, increased CB content resulted in reduced fatigue resistance. Despite an increase in energy dissipation, the content of bounded rubber was the same even with higher CB content.

KW - Bound rubber

KW - Elastomers

KW - Energy dissipation

KW - Fatigue

KW - High-pressure hydrogen gas

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201487640&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2024.108563

DO - 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2024.108563

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85201487640

VL - 189.2024

JO - International Journal of Fatigue

JF - International Journal of Fatigue

SN - 0142-1123

IS - December

M1 - 108563

ER -