Simulation of curing of a slab of rubber

The objective of the present work is to predict the degree of curing for a rectangular slab of rubber, which was subjected to non-uniform thermal history. As the thermal conductivity of rubber is very low, the temperature gradient across a slab is quite large, which leads to non-uniform vulcanization, and hence non-uniform mechanical properties-an inhomogeneous material. Since curing is an exothermic reaction, heat transfer and chemical reactions are solved in a coupled manner. The effect of heat generation on curing is also discussed. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.