Longevity of elastomeric articles is a matter of concern in a variety of fields. The periodic replacement of elastomeric articles increases the cost of ownership of an article while also removing the associated equipment from service in order to effect replacement. The longevity of elastomers is a problem associated with a variety of commercial and military components such as vehicle tires and treads, drive belts, conveyor belts, and vibration damping pads. A typical elastomer for the production of such articles is a styrene-butadiene containing rubber. Conventional blends include styrene-butadiene rubber blended with natural rubbers and butadiene rubbers in order to provide a variety of performance and processing characteristics.
In order to provide high wear elastomeric articles having extended longevity, especially in high demand environments, highly hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (HNBR) was developed as an elastomer having superior wear performance characteristics, particularly for heavy vehicle tread and tracks. The synthesis and properties of highly hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (HNBR) is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,114. Unfortunately, the vulcanization process detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,114 is susceptible to variations in ambient atmosphere thereby reducing article performance characteristics and reproducibility. These production variations led to periodic article replacement based on projected longevity of the poorest performing production variant, resulting in premature disposal of the majority of such articles.
Thus, there exists a need for an elastomeric compound having wear performance characteristics of elastomers that are amenable to reproducible vulcanization.