Advances in Understanding Thermal Effects in Rubber: Experiments, Modelling, and Practical Relevance

In the case of an ideal rubber, one often thinks of the linear dependence of the shear modulus on temperature as an expression of the typical entropy elasticity. However, temperature dependencies of typical technical rubber materials are known to be much more complicated. This has consequences for the practical behaviour of rubber-elastic components. One well-known instance of this is the dramatic Challenger disaster. The rubber used to seal the solid rocket booster joints with O-rings did ...