Study on dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties of the ethylene vinyl acetate reinforced with ground tire rubber

Abstract

Mass production of tires, as well as the difficult storage or elimination is a real environmental problem. Various methods for recycling tires are currently used, such as mechanical grinding, which puts vulcanized rubber, steel, and fibers apart. The rubber may be used in several industrial applications such as flooring, insulations, footwear, etc. The aim of this article focuses on finding a new application for the old used tires (GTR). Tire dust and recycled EVA thermoplastic have been mixed, and we have checked the maximum accepted values of GTR concentration that can be admitted while keeping dielectric, mechanical, and thermal properties within acceptable values, as well as initial polymer microstructure. This would allow including GTR in industrial applications of recycled EVA. The recycled tire dust which result from the industrial milling processes has been divided by sieve in three different categories according to the size of the particles (<200, 200—500, and >" xbd="654" xhg="622" ybd="1596" yhg="1560"/>500 µm). This has then been mixed with EVA in different GTR concentrations (0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, and 70%) in order to establish its conduct through electrical, mechanical, thermal, and microstructure tests, which will be held in a range of temperatures between 30°C and 120°C, and with a range of frequency between 1 × 10-2 and 3 × 106 Hz.