Theoretical and numerical limitations for the simulation of crack propagation in natural rubber components

Pierre Charrier (1) , Elisabeth Ostoja-Kuczynski (2) , Erwan Verron (2) , Gilles Marckmann (2) , Laurent Gornet (2) , Grégory Chagnon (2)

1 Trelleborg Modyn
2 GeM - Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique

In this paper, two commercial software packages dedicated to the simulation of crack propaga-tion in elastomer components were tested: FLEXPAC and MSC-MARC. Firstly, the theoretical limitations ofclassical crack propagation laws were examined to demonstrate that actual numerical predictions are limitedto very simple loading conditions. Secondly, crack propagation approaches implemented in both softwareswere analysed. In order to compare their performances, fatigue experiments are performed. Different rubbercomponents with different pre-cracks were tested under several loading conditions. Crack propagation, i.e.size and direction of the crack, was measured as a function of the number of cycles. Then, these results werecompared with crack direction criteria proposed by the two models. It was demonstrated that loading ampli-tude highly influenced the crack direction and that the models must take this into account in their solver. Fi-nally, limitations of this type of numerical analysis to predict the duration life of rubber components werehighlighted.

Domaines: Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]

Pierre Charrier, Elisabeth Ostoja-Kuczynski, Erwan Verron, Gilles Marckmann, Laurent Gornet, et al.. Theoretical and numerical limitations for the simulation of crack propagation in natural rubber components. 3rd European Conference on Constitutive Models for Rubber (ECCMR), Sep 2003, Londres, United Kingdom. ⟨hal-01004689⟩