Influence of the surroundings conditions on the evolution of elastomers in the nuclear field

The evolution under radiations of EPDM elastomers used as cable insulators reveals the determining role of the surrounding atmosphere. The formation of unsaturated bonds and a recovery of the reticulation are revealed for irradiations in inert atmosphere, whereas a lot of oxidized species are formed in presence of oxygen. The dynamic mechanical relaxation spectroscopy shows a decrease of the molecular mobility in all the cases. This ones results of the reticulation under inert atmosphere, but its origin is less clear during the radio-oxidation where the chain cleavages constitute the main process. The evolution of the conservation modulus with the irradiation dose is in agreement with the waited evolution after the melting of the crystallites. The number of reticulation intersection increases until a dose corresponding to the complete consumption of diene, for decreasing then under the influence of the chain cleavages. The crystallites growth due to chain cleavages explains then the evolution at ambient temperature in presence of oxygen. The mechanical properties at the great deformations show the role of reinforcement of the crystallites at ambient temperature which disappears during the crystallites melting. The evolution of the EPDM properties results of a complex equilibrium between reticulations, chain cleavages and crystallites growth, which is controlled by the temperature and the atmosphere. (O.M.)