Gaelle Berton

MULTIAXIAL FATIGUE CRITERIA APPLIED TO A POLYCHLOROPRENE RUBBER

Abstract Due to their interesting mechanical behavior and their diversity, rubber materials are more and more used in industry. Indeed, formulating a multiaxial fatigue criterion to predict fatigue lives of rubber components constitutes an important objective to conceive rubber products. An experimental campaign is developed here to study the multiaxial fatigue behavior of polychloroprene rubber. To reproduce multiaxial solicitations, combined tension–torsion tests were carried out on a dumbbell-type specimen (an axisymmetric rubber part bonded to metal parts with a reduced section at mid-height), with several values of phase angles between tension and torsion. A constitutive model is needed to calculate multiaxial fatigue criteria, and then analyze fatigue results. A large strain viscoelastic model, based on the tension–torsion kinematics, is then used to determine the materials stress–strain law. Dissipated energy density is introduced as a multiaxial fatigue criterion, and compared with those usually ...

An Overview of the Fatigue of Polychloroprene Rubber

Some fundamental studies carried in a synthetic rubber - Chloroprene CR29 are presented in the first part of the paper. A critical analysis of test results, shows that an energy based approach permits the determination of fatigue lives in this material. This aspect is further enhanced by biaxial fatigue tests in the same material. These tests covering a life range from 10000 to 1000000 cycles show that the energy based model is very efficient to describe the fatigue behavior. Some evidence of strain induced crystallization (previously observed in natural rubber) with associated life enhancement at high load ratios is also presented. A comprehensive model based on the determination of the constitutive laws taking into account the viscoelastic behavior is developed showing excellent correlation with experimental data.

Rubber fatigue — the intrinsic Intricacies

This paper brings out the salient fractographic features that can be found on the fracture surface of some selected rubbers. It is shown that the presence of a specific feature — called the tongues can be correlated to the effect of load ratio and hence the fatigue lives in a synthetic rubber.