Ozone is an important factor that causes the rubber conveyor belt to age in the atmosphere.
Ozone is more active than oxygen, and its attack on conveyor belts, especially unsaturated rubber, is much more serious than oxygen.
After the oxygen molecules absorb short-wave ultraviolet light in the sunlight, the decomposed oxygen atoms recombine with the oxygen molecules to form ozone.
With the vertical flow of air, ozone comes to the surface of the earth, and the concentration of ozone gradually decreases from high altitude to the ground.
In addition, ozone is generated in the discharge place and near the motor, especially in the place where electric sparks are generated.
The concentration of ozone is different in different regions and different seasons.
Although the ozone concentration near the ground is very low, the harm it causes to rubber cannot be ignored;
Unsaturated rubber is easy to ozonation. Its appearance after ozonation are different from thermal oxygen aging.
- the ozonation of rubber is only carried out on the surface layer contacted by ozone, and the entire ozonation process is from the outside to the inside.
- rubber reacts with ozone to form a silver-white hard film, which can prevent deep contact between ozone and rubber under static conditions.
- But, under dynamic strain conditions or under static tension conditions, when the elongation of the rubber exceeds its critical value, the film will crack, allowing ozone to contact the new rubber surface, and continue the ozonation reaction. Make the crack grow.
- Besides, after cracks appear, due to the stress concentration at the base, it is easier to deepen the cracks, and then form new cracks.