Experimental Evaluation of Aging Characteristics of EPDM as a Sealant for Undersea Shield Tunnels
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32, Issue 7
Abstract
The degradation mechanism of ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM), when used as a sealant material for shield tunnels, must be known to assess of the service life of sealant gaskets. This paper presents a series of experimental investigations on the degradation performance of EPDM due to aging under artificial seawater and hot air conditions. The mechanical properties of EPDM (such as hardness, tensile strength, and elongation at break) are investigated first. Then, microchemical analyses, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), are conducted to investigate the variations in the microstructure during aging. The tensile strength and elongation at break under hot air or artificial seawater conditions at different temperatures decrease with aging time, whereas the hardness of EPDM under hot air or artificial seawater conditions increases with aging time. However, at 25°C, the hardness decreases gradually with aging time under artificial seawater conditions. The microscopic results show that the microstructure changes can be attributed to the fracture degradation of the molecular chains, oxidation reactions, and the formation of .
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The research work described herein was funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program: 2015CB057806). This financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32 • Issue 7 • July 2020
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jul 29, 2019
Accepted: Dec 26, 2019
Published online: Apr 28, 2020
Published in print: Jul 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Sep 28, 2020
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