Influence of carbon black dispersion on the thermal diffusivity of an SBR vulcanizate

There are few investigations of the influence of filler dispersion on the t hermal diffusivity of carbon black rubber compounds. In this article, exper imental results of a cured styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compound are pres ented in the range of temperatures between 210 and 350 K at four levels of dispersion obtained in a laboratory mill. The results of thermal diffusivit y measurements are discussed in the frame of competitive mechanisms appeari ng during mixing and involving the breakdown of agglomerates into aggregate s and particles in the rubber matrix. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.