Inflation of a Thick-Walled Shell Which Exhibits Stress Softening

The Mullins effect (Mullins, 1947), also known as stress softening, is exhibited by certain rubberlike materials and refers to changes of the mechanical properties, due to prior deformation. Johnson and Beatty (1995) have investigated the Mullins effect in equibiaxial tension by performing cycles of static inflation and deflation experiments on latex balloons. These experiments show that stress softening results in a decrease in the pressure necessary to inflate a balloon, and in addition, indicate inelastic effects of hysteresis and permanent set. The objective of this paper is to investigate the finite deformation static inflation from the virgin state, followed by quasi-static removal of the internal pressure, of a thick-walled homogeneous spherical shell composed of an incompressible isotropic rubberlike material which exhibits stress softening and permanent set. Since the initial inflation of the shell, due to application of an internal pressure, does not result in a homogeneous deformation, a state of residual stress is present after complete removal of the internal pressure. A procedure is presented for the determination of the response of the shell for the first cycle of inflation and deflation from the virgin state, and the analysis includes strain softening and the inelastic effects of hysteresis and permanent set. It is assumed that, for the initial static inflation of the shell from the virgin state, the internal pressure and stress distribution for a monotonically increasing internal or external radius are the same as for a hyperelastic shell, and also that the magnitude of the permanent set of an element of the material is related monotonically to the deformation at the end of the inflation.