Effect of a variation in kinetic parameters (rate constant, activation energy) on the vulcanization of rubber sheets in injection molding process

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Abstract
As shown previously, a slight variation in the kinetic parameters (rate constant, activation energy) of the cure reaction has a pronounced effect on the vulcanization of rubber. The purpose of this work is to show that this effect is more important when the injection molding process is used and the temperature of injected rubber is higher. Experiments were performed using microcalorimetry for determining the kinetic parameters, and a heated mold pressing a 2 cm thick rubber sheet. The resulting variations in the temperature and state of cure at the midplane of sheets were calculated and compared for different temperatures of injected rubber ranging from 40 to 140°C, while the temperature of the mold was kept constant at 180°C.