A complex permittivity measurement system composed of a network analyzer and a open-ended coaxial waveguide has been used to evaluate the permittivity of rubber samples. The conductivity of rubber provides an indication of the dispersion of carbon black throughout the rubber matrix. The technique is based on the Deschamps antenna modeling theorem which relates the effective admittance of an antenna in some arbitrary medium to the effective admittance of the same antenna embedded in free space. This technique is well suited for material with loss tangents between 0.1 and 1.0. Only material within a radius on the order of the outer conductor radius of the coaxial waveguide is interrogated. Inferred permittivity measurements for rubber samples are presented. An APC-7 connector is used as the transducer which provides a means for convenient calibration because standard calibration terminations can be used. The amount of pressure from the sample applied to the waveguide affects reflection coefficient measurements, preventing consistent results. / Master of Science

DC resistance and AC conductance and capacitance have been measured under various conditions in an effort to electrically characterize and make electrical-mechanical correlations for 15 carbon black filled rubber samples. Resistance, conductance and capacitance have been monitored as functions of uniaxial compressive stress, time, temperature, and mechanical and thermal history. Capacitance and conductance have also been monitored as functions of frequency under various degrees of compressive loading and before and after specific heat treatments. A direct relationship has been found between sample • conductance and capacitance under any thermal and/or mechanical condition. This is in agreement with previous theories of conduction network formation and percolation. Various conduction mechanisms have been enumerated and an equivalent circuit of a network of lumped R-C "microelements'' has been qualitatively described. Stress, relaxation, frequency, and temperature dependences of the macroscopic parameters measured ( conductivity and capacitance) are discussed in terms of this model. / M.S.