General Information Experimental Procedure

Compression test on Neoprene Rubber Pads

(As a part of TA assignment) Abhimanyu Sable
Department of Civil Engineering 123040040@iitb.ac.in

November 1, 2013

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Overview

1 General Information

Signicance Comparison Applications

2 Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

General Information

Neoprene is a synthetic rubber that has been around over 75 years. It is used in a wide variety of applications, such as laptop sleeves, electrical insulation, liquid and sheet applied elastomeric membranes or ashings and automotive fan belts. It is similar to natural rubber, but has durability and resistance to environmental stresses that make it superior in some applications.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

General Information

From stability point of view, Neoprene is extremely resistant to wear and weathering. It resists damage by chemicals such as acids, ozone, oils and oxygen which can harm other types of rubber. Neoprene is also resistant to heat and can work in both cold and hot environments, although it does get stier in the cold. It is resistant to ame, although extremely high temperatures can damage it.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

General Information

Mechanical Resistance Neoprene performs well under a variety of mechanical stresses. It resists impact well, absorbing a considerable amount of force without being damaged. It also has good compression set and rebound rate; when it is compressed and released, it springs back to its original shape fairly quickly. It also resists abrasion damage and tearing and will not crack easily from repeated bending.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

General Information

Uses With Other Materials Neoprene is very useful in combination with a range of other materials. It adheres well to metal, which makes it useful for applications where the two have to be joined. It is also useful in making bandages and binders and as a coating. Manufacturers can even add it to asphalt or concrete to make elasticized pavement.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Signicance Neoprene rubber pads are elastomer bearings much easier to install in bridge as compare to other kind of bearings used and require little maintenance. Compared to other elastomers neoprene pads does not undergo stiening at low temperatures. High durability/ life of neoprene elastomer rubber pads. Neoprene pads allow smooth transfer of load from superstructure to substructure. It allows for Beam rotation at the bearing due to deection of beam under load. They also allow lateral and longitudinal movement of the beam caused by thermal forces. Laminated neoprene pads have ability to give and take shear which absorbs thermal expansion and contraction.
Abhimanyu Sable Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Plain Rubber Block v/s Laminated Elastomer Bearing Capability of plain rubber block increases as the number of laminations increase. Plain rubber carries less load for the same strain level, that will be one of the observations of the experiment.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Plain Rubber Block v/s Laminated Elastomer Bearing Plain rubber block under vertical load compressed down where as a laminated bearing bulge out with each laminations absorbing most of the vertical load.

Figure:

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Plain Rubber Block v/s Laminated Elastomer Bearing Reaction against the horizontal load compared The resistance against excessive deformation for horizontal load is high in case of laminated neoprene pads

Figure:

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Seismic isolation Seismic isolation separates the structure from the harmful motions of the ground by providing exibility and energy dissipation capability through the insertion of the isolated device so called isolators between the foundation and the building structure.

Figure:
Abhimanyu Sable Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Figure:

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Figure:
Abhimanyu Sable Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

Vibration Mounts Engines

Internal combustion engines Generator sets

Rotating equipments
Pumps Compressors Windmills

Electronic equipments
Instrument panels Switch cabinets

Marine/oshore applications

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Signicance Comparison Applications

As bearing under bridge deck

Figure: Bridge Bearings

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Testing of hardness using Durometer Durometer is one of several measures of the hardness of a material. Hardness may be dened as a materials resistance to permanent indentation. Unit is Shore A. Students are supposed to take readings of hardness before proceeding with the compression testing of the sample specimen. Four reading on each side of the rubber block adding to 24 reading for one block. Readings need to taken for all the 3 blocks Mean of the readings for each block indicates the hardness level for that block
Abhimanyu Sable Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Figure: Testing rubber for hardness

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Figure: Mechanism

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Procedure for Experiment The test specimens are classied in terms of dierent hardness values. Each block is placed in the test apparatus in the position specied by helper. There are 5 indicators on the top. 4 indicate deection (deection transducers) and the other 1 indicate load. The apparatus is strain controlled meaning readings need to be taken at specied load levels. Hence consider one of the deection indicator as reference.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Procedure for Experiment Each person takes reading observed in each indicator upon the call of person taking reference indicator reading. The call has to be made at 2mm levels. Maximum allowable deection should not exceed 12 mm (or the value specied by Nissar Khan Sir) So there are 7 reading for each test.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

Procedure for Experiment The reference point should be taken when the surfaces of the machine and the block just touches each other. Once they get the deection v/s load ordinates, they are supposed to plot the respective values of each specimen on the same graph indicating their hardness levels. Then for a constant strain, get the three stress (resistance) values. And for a constant stress get three strains (deformation) values. This forms the reference for correcting journals and comparing the results obtained by dierent batches.

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

General Information Experimental Procedure

Hardness Testing Procedure

The End

Abhimanyu Sable

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay