The influence of test temperature on the fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) filled with 15 vol.% carbon black was investigated using a custom-built fatigue tester equipped with a temperature-controlled chamber. A pure shear specimen with dimensions of 146 mm × 15 mm × 2 mm was employed, and FCG experiments were conducted in air at 25, 45, and 60 °C under a test frequency of 5 Hz and a strain ratio of 0.1. The FCG behavior measured with the custom-built tester was in good agreement with that obtained from a conventional tester, demonstrating the reliability of the custom-built system. The FCG rate increased exponentially with temperature. At a tearing energy of approximately 1000 N/m, the FCG rate followed an Arrhenius-type dependence, and the apparent activation energy was estimated to be 73 kJ/mol.
Yamamoto et al. (Wed,) studied this question.