Being able to predict the lifetime of elastomers is fundamental for many industrial applications. The evolution of both tensile and compression behavior of unfilled and filled neoprene rubbers was studied over time for different ageing conditions (70 °C, 80 °C and 90 °C). While Young’s modulus increased with ageing, the bulk modulus remained almost constant, leading to a slight decrease in the Poisson’s ratio with ageing, especially for the filled rubbers. This evolution of Poisson’s ratio with ageing is often neglected in the literature where a constant value of 0.5 is almost always assumed. Moreover, the elongation at break decreased, all these phenomena having a similar activation energy (~80 kJ/mol) assuming an Arrhenius or pseudo-Arrhenius behavior. Using simple scaling arguments from rubber elasticity theory, it is possible to relate quantitatively Young’s modulus and elongation at break for all ageing conditions, while an empirical relation can correlate Young’s modulus and hardness shore A. This suggests the crosslink density evolution during ageing is the main factor that drives the mechanical properties. It is then possible to predict the lifetime of elastomers usually based on an elongation at break criterion with a simple hardness shore measurement.

This paper presents the first extensive study of the performances of solid polymers used as confinement materials for laser shock applications such as laser shock peening (LSP) as opposed to the exclusively used water-confined regime up to now. The use of this new confinement approach allows the treatment of metal pieces needing fatigue behavior enhancement but located in areas which are sensitive to water. Accurate pressure determination in the polymer confinement regime was performed by coupling finite element simulation and experimental measurements of rear free-surface velocity using the velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR). Pressure could reach 7.6 and 4.6 GPa for acrylate-based polymer and cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), respectively. At 7 and 4.7 GW/cm ${}^2$ , respectively, detrimental laser breakdown limited pressure for acrylate and PDMS. These results show that the pressures produced were also as high as in water confinement, attaining values allowing the treatment of all types of metals with LSP and laying the groundwork for future determination of the fatigue behavior exhibited by this type of treated materials.

Since poly(ether ketone ketone) (PEKK) is a good candidate as a matrix for composite structural parts, the mechanical properties of PEKK copolymers prepared from diphenyl ether, terephthalic acid (T), and isophthalic acid (I) with different T/I ratios were assessed at room temperature and above their glass transition temperature depending on the thermal history during processing. The influence of cooling conditions and macromolecular modifications at high exposure temperatures was investigated. Results show that modulus and yield properties for a given testing temperature follow a master curve driven mainly by crystallinity regardless of the PEKK copolymers. By modifying PEKK during exposures at 400°C, which leads to branching mechanisms before crystallization, it is shown that modified PEKKs follow the master curve, thus confirming the predominant role of crystallinity in small deformation properties. However, for some morphologies, depending on the crystallization conditions such as cold or melt crystallization, a slight deviation is observed from the global master curve.