Thermoplastic elastomer blends

A process for making a thermoplastic elastomer blend composition, comprising the steps of:

• providing a blend of a 1-olefin, a random styrene-butadiene rubber copolymer and a highly saturated elastomer,
• the amount of said 1-olefin polymer ranging from about 10 to about 50 parts by weight, the amount of said styrene-butadiene rubber ranging from about 80 to about 15 parts by weight, the amount of said highly saturated elastomer ranging from about 5 to about 55 parts by weight,
• said 1-olefin polymer selected from the class consisting of a homopolymer and a copolymer made from 1-olefin monomers having from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms, said homopolymer or said copolymer having a melting point of at least 90.degree. C.,
• mixing said blend at a temperature at or above the melting point of said 1-olefin polymer,
• partially curing said blend to have a melt flow index of at least 1.0 so that a reprocessable thermoplastic elastomer is produced, and
• wherein said highly saturated elastomer is selected from the group consisting of a hydrogenated homopolymer made from dienes from 4 to 10 carbon atoms, and a hydrogenated diblock or triblock copolymer made from conjugated dienes having from 4 to 10 carbon atoms and vinyl substituted aromatics having dienes from 8 to 12 carbon atoms, the amount of said saturation of said elastomer being at least 70%.