Non-destructive diagnosis of degradation of silicone rubber by indenter modulus and scanning probe microscopy

We aged silicone rubber, which is widely used for electrical insulation of cables in nuclear power plants under various conditions. The surface of each sample was measured by an indenter and a scanning probe microscope (SPM) for non-destructive diagnosis. As a result, it has become clear that the surface of silicone rubber becomes hard with the progress of degradation in both cases of thermal aging and simultaneous aging by heat and radiation. The indenter modulus shows a good correlation with the elongation at break (EAB). On the other hand, the delay of phase angle measured by SPM exhibits a rather low correlation with EAB. Through the results of thermal analyses, it seems that the thermal aging without radiation induces cross-linking first, which is followed by bond break. However, bond breakage seems predominant over cross-linking in the simultaneous aging with heat and radiation.