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Creep rupture tests of joints fabricated from aged EPDM rubber membrane material

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Abstract
An experiment was conducted to assess the creep rupture performance of joints fabricated from aged EPDM rubber membrane material. The rubber, sampled from a 10-year old roof, was abrasively cleaned with heptane prior to joint formation. Two sets of joints were prepared using a butyl-based pre-formed tape: one designated as "patch" specimens (one strip of cleaned aged rubber adhered to one strip of cleaned new rubber", and the second designated as "new seam" specimen (two strips of cleaned new rubber bonded together). Both sets were stressed in peel under creep conditions to determine their times-to-failure. The mean time-to-failure of the enw seam jionts was significantly longer than that of the patch joints. The locus of failure of the patch joints (and also new seam joints) was at the interface between the surfaces of the new rubber and the tape. This indicated that cleaning the surface of the aged EPDM rubber by wiping with a cloth soaked with heptane provided a bond with the tape that was more resistant to peel under creep conditions than that of the new cleaned rubber. The mean time-to-failure of the joints fabricated with new cleaned rubber and the pre-formed tape was the same as that previously reported for comparable joints made with solvent-based adhesives. The peel strengths of the patch and new seam specimens were also obtained, and the results are discussed.
Date
1/1991
Author(s)
W Rossiter Jr; T Nguyen; J Martin; W Byrd; J Seiler; Lechner
Page(s)
17
Keyword(s)
adhesive; creep rupture test; EPDM; low slope roof; peel strength seams; surface cleaning; T peel joint


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