Effect of PPDS antioxidants on the behavior of Nbr seal materials under γ irradiation

Abstract EN

Seals made of Acrylonitrile- Butadiene Rubber (NBR) are one of the classified seals used in nuclear facilities.

However NBR seals, when subjected to Ү-radiation their mechanical properties, could be significantly degraded, depending on the dose level, and hence affect the sealing performance reducing their service life.

In order to increase the sealing service life, antioxidant materials can be added to the NBR seals.

N-Nsubstituted P-phenylene diamines (PPD) antioxidants material set is selected to improve the resistance of NBR seals against gamma irradiation up to 5MGy.

The effect of addition of different PPDs on the mechanical and physical properties of the NBR seals under gamma radiation environment is investigated.

The present work is focused on studying the effect of some types of PPDs antioxidant materials on increasing the NBR seal performance.

These antioxidants are N-isopropyl-N'-phenyl-p-phenylene diamine (IPPD), phenyl B-naphthylamine (PBN), and N-(1, 3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylene diamine (6PPD).

The Physco-Mechanical properties of Ү-irradiated NBR seal materials, to which are added these selected antioxidants were evaluated by measuring crosslinking density, the tensile strength, and the percentage of elongation as well as hardness, abrasion, and compression tests .

The results of the present study show that the addition of 6PPD as a candidate antioxidant to NBR seal material gives the best physico-mechanical performance compared to the other studied antioxidants.