A newly developed snow vehicle (SM100S) for Antarctica IV. Low temperature properties of crawler belt

Abstract

In order to discover a high cold-resistance material for use in the crawler belt of snow vehicles, the physical properties at very low temperatures of a recently developed material, isoprene/butadiene (70/30) random copolymer filled with carbon black, was investigated in comparison with a blended rubber NR/BR (65/35) as well as a currently used NR. It has been found that this material can keep rubber elasticity even at low temperatures blow -70℃, though it is somewhat inferior to the other two materials as to strengths such as stress-at-break and tear; and hence, it is considered as quite worthy of a practical test under equipped for a snow vehicle in the Antarctic area.