Evaluation Of The Aging Life Of The Rubber Pad In Power Window Switch

To evaluate the aging of a rubber pad in power window switch which is the part of a vehicle, the accelerated thermal aging test of rubber pad material is performed. Finite element analysis was performed using the nonlinear material constants of the rubber pad to calculate the operating force, and the Arrhenius relationship was derived from the aging temperature and time. The aging test was performed at 150, 180, 210, or 240 degrees C for 1 to 60 days. When the operating force of the rubber pad is changed by 10% from the initial value, the service life is expected to be 113 years, which is much longer than the life of the vehicle. This indicates that the aging life of the rubber pad is sufficiently safe and the operating force of the rubber pad during the life of the vehicle (20 years) was decreased by approximately 8.4%. By examining the correlation between the shear elastic modulus and operating force calculated from finite element analysis under each aging test condition, the changes in the operating force of the rubber pad and the shear elastic modulus showed good linear relationship. The aging life could be predicted by the change in shear elastic modulus and a process for predicting the aging life of automotive power window switch rubber pad parts is described herein.