The Elasticity of Rubber

1958 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 959-981
Author(s):  
Lawrence A. Wood

Abstract Rubbers, natural and synthetic, are unique in being highly extensible and in retracting forcibly and quickly to substantially their original dimensions when released. It has been found that the stress-strain curves for extension and compression of most of the simplest vulcanizates of natural rubber and the three most important synthetic rubbers are similar in shape. The relationship is expressed by the equation F/M=(L−1−L−2) exp A(L−L−1) where F is the stress, L the ratio of stretched to unstretched length, and M and A are constants. The constant M depends on the nature of the rubber, the extent of vulcanization, and the time of creep. The constant A has a value of about 0.38. By a study of stress-temperature relations it is found that the most important factor in the retraction of stretched rubber is the tendency of long chain flexible molecules to return to a configuration which is statistically more probable than the one which the stretching has forced them to assume. Calculations of entropy changes arising from stretching can be made from probability considerations, and a strain energy function deduced from the entropy changes. Stresses calculated from the strain energy function agree with those observed in compression but are greater than those observed in extension by almost 50 per cent at L=3. A phenomenological approach shows that the strain energy should be expressible as a function of certain quantities called strain invariants, calculable from the deformations. The simplest behavior is found in the region of compression (L less than 1), where the strain energy is merely the first invariant times a constant calculable from the entropy changes. For values of L between 1.5 and 3 a different constant and an added term involving the second strain invariant are required. The explanation of this behavior in molecular terms is one of the most important current problems of rubber elasticity.

1973 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Ogden

Abstract Many attempts have been made to reproduce theoretically the stress-strain curves obtained from experiments on the isothermal deformation of highly elastic ‘rubberlike’ materials. The existence of a strain-energy function has usually been postulated, and the simplifications appropriate to the assumptions of isotropy and incompressibility have been exploited. However, the usual practice of writing the strain energy as a function of two independent strain invariants has, in general, the effect of complicating the associated mathematical analysis (this is particularly evident in relation to the calculation of instantaneous moduli of elasticity) and, consequently, the basic elegance and simplicity of isotropic elasticity is sacrificed. Furthermore, recently proposed special forms of the strain-energy function are rather complicated functions of two invariants. The purpose of this paper is, while making full use of the inherent simplicity of isotropic elasticity, to construct a strain-energy function which: (i) provides an adequate representation of the mechanical response of rubberlike solids, and (ii) is simple enough to be amenable to mathematical analysis. A strain-energy function which is a linear combination of strain invariants defined by ϕ(α)=(α1α+α2α+α3α)/α is proposed; and the principal stretches α1, α2, and α3 are used as independent variables subject to the incompressibility constraint α1α2α3=1. Principal axes techniques are used where appropriate. An excellent agreement between this theory and the experimental data from simple tension, pure shear and equibiaxial tension tests is demonstrated. It is also shown that the present theory has certain repercussions in respect of the constitutive inequality proposed by Hill.


2004 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Shen ◽  
K. Chandrashekhara ◽  
W. F. Breig ◽  
L. R. Oliver

Abstract Rubber hyperelasticity is characterized by a strain energy function. The strain energy functions fall primarily into two categories: one based on statistical thermodynamics, the other based on the phenomenological approach of treating the material as a continuum. This work is focused on the phenomenological approach. To determine the constants in the strain energy function by this method, curve fitting of rubber test data is required. A review of the available strain energy functions based on the phenomenological approach shows that it requires much effort to obtain a curve fitting with good accuracy. To overcome this problem, a novel method of defining rubber strain energy function by Feedforward Backpropagation Neural Network is presented. The calculation of strain energy and its derivatives by neural network is explained in detail. The preparation of the neural network training data from rubber test data is described. Curve fitting results are given to show the effectiveness and accuracy of the neural network approach. A material model based on the neural network approach is implemented and applied to the simulation of V-ribbed belt tracking using the commercial finite element code ABAQUS.


1955 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Adkins

For elastic deformations beyond the range of the classical infinitesimal theory of elasticity, the governing differential equations are non-linear in form, and orthodox methods of solution are not usually applicable. Simplifying features appear, however, when a restriction is imposed either upon the form of the deformation, or upon the form of strain-energy function employed to define the elastic properties of the material. Thus in the problems of torsion and flexure considered by Rivlin (4, 5, 6) it is possible to avoid introducing partial differential equations into the analysis, while in the theory of finite plane strain developed by Adkins, Green and Shield (1) the reduction in the number of dependent and independent variables involved introduces some measure of simplicity. Some further simplification is achieved when the strain-energy function can be considered as a linear function of the strain invariants as postulated by Mooney(2) for incompressible materials. In the present paper the plane-strain equations for a Mooney material are reduced to symmetrical forms which do not involve the stress components, and some special solutions of these equations are derived.


Author(s):  
J. G. Murphy

The phenomenological approach to the modelling of the mechanical response of arteries usually assumes a reduced form of the strain-energy function in order to reduce the mathematical complexity of the model. A common approach eschews the full basis of seven invariants for the strain-energy function in favour of a reduced set of only three invariants. It is shown that this reduced form is not consistent with the corresponding full linear theory based on infinitesimal strains. It is proposed that compatibility with the linear theory is an essential feature of any nonlinear model of arterial response. Two approaches towards ensuring such compatibility are proposed. The first is that the nonlinear theory reduces to the full six-constant linear theory, without any restrictions being imposed on the constants. An alternative modelling strategy whereby an anisotropic material is compatible with a simpler material in the linear limit is also proposed. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for a nonlinear anisotropic material to be compatible with an isotropic material for infinitesimal deformations. Materials that satisfy these conditions should be useful in the modelling of the crimped collagen fibres in the undeformed configuration.


1993 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 754-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. H. Yeoh

Abstract According to Rivlin's Phenomenological Theory of Rubber Elasticity, the elastic properties of a rubber may be described in terms of a strain energy function which is an infinite power series in the strain invariants I1, I2 and I3. The simplest forms of Rivlin's strain energy function are the neo-Hookean, which is obtained by truncating the infinite series to just the first term in I1, and the Mooney-Rivlin, which retains the first terms in I1 and I2. Recently, we proposed a strain energy function which is a cubic in I1. Conceptually, the proposed function is a material model with a shear modulus that varies with deformation. In this paper, we compare the large strain behavior of rubber as predicted by these forms of the strain energy function. The elastic behavior of swollen rubber is also discussed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen May-Newman ◽  
Charles Lam ◽  
Frank C. P. Yin

The objective of the present study was to perform biaxial testing and apply constitutive modeling to develop a strain energy function that accurately predicts the material behavior of the aortic valve leaflets. Ten leaflets from seven normal porcine aortic valves were biaxially stretched in a variety of protocols and the data combined to develop and fit a strain energy function to describe the material behavior. The results showed that the nonlinear anisotropic behavior of the aortic valve is well described by a strain energy function of two strain invariants, which uses only three coefficients to accurately predict the stress-strain behavior over a wide range of deformations. This structurally-motivated constitutive law has many applications, including computational modeling for clinical and engineering valve treatments.


2006 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahap Vahapoğlu ◽  
Sami Karadeniz

Abstract To describe the elastic behavior of rubber-like materials, numerous specific forms of strain energy functions have been proposed in the literature. This bibliography provides a list of references on the strain energy functions for rubber-like materials on isothermal condition using the phenomenological approach. The published works, either containing the strain energy function proposals or the discussions on such proposals, based upon the phenomenological approach, are classified.


Author(s):  
David J. Steigmann

This chapter covers the notion of hyperelasticity—the concept that stress is derived from a strain—energy function–by invoking an analogy between elastic materials and springs. Alternatively, it can be derived by invoking a work inequality; the notion that work is required to effect a cyclic motion of the material.


Author(s):  
Afshin Anssari-Benam ◽  
Andrea Bucchi ◽  
Giuseppe Saccomandi

AbstractThe application of a newly proposed generalised neo-Hookean strain energy function to the inflation of incompressible rubber-like spherical and cylindrical shells is demonstrated in this paper. The pressure ($P$ P ) – inflation ($\lambda $ λ or $v$ v ) relationships are derived and presented for four shells: thin- and thick-walled spherical balloons, and thin- and thick-walled cylindrical tubes. Characteristics of the inflation curves predicted by the model for the four considered shells are analysed and the critical values of the model parameters for exhibiting the limit-point instability are established. The application of the model to extant experimental datasets procured from studies across 19th to 21st century will be demonstrated, showing favourable agreement between the model and the experimental data. The capability of the model to capture the two characteristic instability phenomena in the inflation of rubber-like materials, namely the limit-point and inflation-jump instabilities, will be made evident from both the theoretical analysis and curve-fitting approaches presented in this study. A comparison with the predictions of the Gent model for the considered data is also demonstrated and is shown that our presented model provides improved fits. Given the simplicity of the model, its ability to fit a wide range of experimental data and capture both limit-point and inflation-jump instabilities, we propose the application of our model to the inflation of rubber-like materials.


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