CONSTRUCTION AND SIMULATION Statistical Approach of Designing Isolating EPDM Rubber Compounds to Enable Light-Weighting Solutions at Automotive OEMs

The automotive trend of replacing steel doors in cars with light-weight metals like Magnesium/Aluminum (Mg/Al) has a significant impact on the EPDM weather-strip (WS) requirements. To avoid electrochemical degradation of the EP DM WS and oxidation of metal surface, EPDM WS need to have 3-4 orders high er volume resistivity (VR) than standard WS. 

Ethylene Propylene Diene (EPDM) rubber [1-5] is composed of randomly distribut ed ethylene (C2), propylene (C3), and ethylidene norbornene (ENB) diene along its saturated backbone (Figure 1).