Creep simulation and experiment for rubber springs

Abstract

Rubber creep, as a time-dependent deformation, is one of the critical factors when considering engineering design and applications for anti-vibration structures. A function based on material damage with a variable T (time elapsed) and an invariant [Formula: see text] is introduced to hyperelastic constitutive models based on strain energy density for polymer creep prediction. The concept is to link rubber creep to its structure change, leading to degradation of the materials over the elapsed time. Hence, hyperelastic models, widely available in industry, can be extended to include the variable time T so that a creep evaluation for rubber structures can be performed at a design stage and in the service. A typical rubber-to-metal bonded component, which is used in industrial applications, is selected to validate the proposed approach. Verification shows that the proposed approach predicts nearly identical experimental results, and the method can be used for engineering design and industrial applications.