Wear of steel by rubber

Wear of a steel blade used as a scraper to abrade rubber surfaces has been found to take place much more rapidly on a cis-polyisoprene (natural rubber) surface than on a cis-polybutadiene surface, and much more rapidly in an inert atmosphere than in air. These observations are attributed to the direct attack upon steel of free-radical species generated by mechanical rupture of elastomer molecules during abrasion.