Abstract: This paper focuses on the influence of dynamic viscoelasticity and surface temperature on the fatigue mechanism and fatigue lifetime of polyester/rubber composites. Rubber composites show significant viscoelasticity during fatigue process. The variations of dynamic elastic modulus, mechanical loss angle, loss energy per cycle exhibit different trend in fatigue initial stage and final stage. Due to high viscoelasticity high heat generation occurs under cyclic loading, which leads to a high surface temperature. It is found that the variation of specimen surface temperature depends strongly on cycling frequency and stress amplitude. SEM (scanning electron microscopy) observation and static residual stiffness studies reveal that the surface temperature affects fracture morphology and fatigue lifetime of rubber composites strongly because of heat aging.

Key words: Rubber composites, Fatigue, Dynamic viscoelasticity, Surface temperature